In many ways technology has made the world a safer place. Just a few years ago it would have seemed insane to think that you could have a piece of technology that you could use to call the authorities to your location, and thanks to cameras many criminals can be recognized and caught without relying solely on drawings and victim testimony, since a victim might not remember exactly what the offender looked like. Technology has definitely brought many people together, with the advent of social media and the ability to communicate from long distances without travel. On the other hand, while these technologies definitely bring people together for good, they can also bring people together for the worse.

Before technology could give someone easy access to victims, the victims of the crime would more often than not have to be in close proximity to the offender, and this could make identifying the suspects easier. But now with social media the offender may not only be across the country, but in a whole different country entirely. Many people may not take online harassment or crimes very seriously, but they can be mentally damaging to people, especially minors. With so many children online without supervision, it is easier for predators to groom them, and even if the predator is caught and brought to justice, nothing on the internet can truly be deleted. Before a victim of a crime could at least leave town, but now that the internet contains many records, anybody from a potential employer to another abuser can look through a person’s information, and it can be hard for a victim to move forward knowing that so many people are aware of their past.

Much like how criminals could get away with murder fairly easily before the use of DNA evidence and fingerprints, it can be easy for cyber criminals to get away with heinous acts because of their anonymity, which may even make them more likely to engage in those acts in the first place. Unlike fingerprinting and DNA evidence, we don’t have nearly as much information and experience in catching and identifying cyber criminals. It’s not like we don’t have any way of knowing where there located or who they are, but any information that could be used to find them would be a breach of privacy, and if you can’t search a person’s house unless you have a warrant, you can’t just give out a person’s location even if their a criminal. Many people don’t like the idea of someone knowing their exact location when they are using the computer, whether they are guilty of any sort of crime or not.