We’re on to you

THE University of Bedfordshire and a leading charity have teamed up to launch a pioneering research study into cyber-stalking and on-line harassment.

The ECHO (Electronic Communication Harassment Observation) project which went live on September 24, is expected to reveal that many people have become unwitting cyber-stalkers as there are no clear rules about appropriate online etiquette.

The research has been commissioned by international charity Network for Surviving Stalking (NSS), and is the first research project to focus purely on cyber-stalking.

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Leading the project, psychologist Dr Emma Short (pictured) said: “There are stalkers for whom the internet and 
mobile phones are just convenient ‘tools of their trade’.

“But we think there are also vast numbers of internet users who are engaged in harassing behaviours because they don’t know the rules of appropriate on-line communication.”

Research already undertaken by the University indicates this new-breed of stalkers are otherwise law-abiding citizens.

Dr Short added: “It’s just that on-line – at the moment - anything goes.

People post very personal information and behave in ways they’d never dream of 
doing in the real world.

“This puts them and others at risk of harassment.”

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