1. How does cyber technology impact interactions between offenders and victims?
As with all things cyber technologies only make the interactions and interplay of offenders and victims easier. Most concerns are the increased ease of identifiable information that can be used by the offenders. This decrease in informational friction on individuals’ informational privacy is what drives cyber stalking and harassment. Basically, it becomes too easy for an individual to find and access personal and private data which can be used against the victims. Due to technologies nature of increasing communication, which decreases informational friction, the friction must be restored with user policies, setting, and behaviors. There is however the saying that a lock will only keep an honest person honest. Even if a user does all the right things to minimize their risk of harassment and stalking there will always be the risk of an individual who performs these deviant behaviors and actions. Like all technology, cyber technology was designed to make communications and access easier it depends on the people for how and what its used for.
2. How should we approach the development of cyber-policy and -infrastructure given the “short arm” of predictive knowledge?
The “short arm” of predictive knowledge refers to the idea of individual situations being immediate and that it is not possible to know all of the future repercussions of the decisions made. Just because we don’t now fully know all the possible outcomes for decisions made in regard to cyber policy and infrastructure is no excuse for not maintaining vigilant and up to date standards. These policies set the standard for what is deemed acceptable behaviors and actions in regard to interactions in the cyber world. A lack of upkeep for these standards would lead to widespread breakdown of the cyberspace as we know it. This is because new technologies and vulnerabilities are created and found on a near daily basis. Thus, how we as a society must keep up and agree upon how these new technologies should be handled and addressed. In short, our approach should be to always maintain standards with the development that is made.