Glossary entry

Protective friction

Definition

Friction added on purpose to slow a harmful process, so the lag between harm and response stays within safe bounds. Protective friction inserts checkpoints where speed would otherwise amplify risk.

It should be targeted and proportional: enough to prevent harm, not enough to create punitive burden.

AgencyTemporal

Hypothetical example

  • High-risk account changes require a second authenticated confirmation before execution.

Related terms

Velocity friction Appropriate friction Ethical interrupts Drift (system drift) Humane friction Frictionless harm User-state modeling for harm prevention Friction budgets

References

Cite this glossary entry · v1.17.1 · updated Oct 6, 2026 · CC BY-SA 4.0

APA

Ethotechnics Institute. (2026). Protective friction. Ethotechnics glossary. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/protective-friction

MLA

Ethotechnics Institute. "Protective friction." Ethotechnics glossary, 2026, https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/protective-friction.

Chicago

Ethotechnics Institute. "Protective friction." Ethotechnics glossary. Oct 6, 2026. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/protective-friction.

BibTeX

@misc{glossary_protective-friction,
  title={Protective friction},
  author={Ethotechnics Institute},
  year={2026},
  howpublished={Ethotechnics glossary},
  url={https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/protective-friction},
  version={v1.17.1}
}

RIS

TY  - WEB
TI  - Protective friction
AU  - Ethotechnics Institute
PY  - 2026
UR  - https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/protective-friction
ER  -

Authorship

Contact: hello@ethotechnics.org

Publication details

  • Published: Dec 3, 2025
  • Last updated: Oct 6, 2026
  • Version: v1.17.1

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Credit Ethotechnics Institute, include the term title and version, and link to the glossary permalink.

Archive: Wayback Machine history

Latest change

v1.17.1 · Oct 6, 2026 — Editorial revision. Titles are in sentence case. Pasted spec blocks are replaced with prose and worked examples, 79 operational tests are rewritten as pass conditions, 22 origin notes are rewritten or sourced, and unsourced superlatives are cut. No terms were added or removed, and permalinks are unchanged.

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