Google新隐私政策面临压力

    This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
     
    Google is preparing for changes in its privacy policy beginning March first. The company says it plans to replace more than sixty separate policies for different products with one main policy.
    Google正准备从3月1日起修改其隐私政策。该公司表示它们计划用一项主要政策替代不同产品多达六十多项的独立政策。
     
    Privacy activists criticized last month's announcement. They are concerned that the new policy will make it easier to track the activities of users across Google's many products -- from Gmail to YouTube.
    隐私活动人士对Google上个月发布这项通告提出了批评。他们担心新政策会使得Google更容易追踪其多种产品的用户的活动--从Gmail到YouTube。

    Marc Rotenberg heads the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. He says Google's aim is to create a single unified profile of its users.
    马克·罗滕贝格(Marc Rotenberg)是位于华盛顿的美国电子隐私信息中心负责人。他说,Google的目标是为用户建立统一的个人资料。
     
    MARC ROTENBERG: "We believe that not only is that a threat to privacy, we actually believe it is illegal, because last year Google entered into an agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in which they said they would not engage in that kind of data sharing without the explicit permission of their users."
    罗滕贝格:“我们不仅认为它是对隐私的一个威胁,更确信它是非法的。因为去年Google和美国联邦贸易委员会达成一项协议。在协议中Google表示在获得用户明确许可前不会进行这类数据分享。”

    Google says its new policy will make it simpler for users to share information across services like Google Search, Gmail and Google Calendar. And it says the new policy will help personalize each user's experience. Over time, it says, users can expect to see better search results, fewer unwanted advertisements and more content targeted to their interests.
    Google称其新政策将使得用户跨服务分享信息更为简单,这些服务包括Google搜索,Gmail和Google日历等。它同时表示,新政策将有助于使用户的体验个性化。随着时间的推移,用户有望看到更好的搜索结果,更少的垃圾广告,和更多针对他们兴趣的内容。
     
    But Marc Rotenberg says in return, people who choose to use Google will lose control over the information they share.
    但罗滕贝格表示,作为交换,选择使用Google的人们将对他们共享的信息失去控制。

    MARC ROTENBERG: "The type of information you might provide for an e-mail service, for example, such as your address book, which contains private information, is different from the type of information that you might provide for a social network service where people purposely make information publicly available to their friends."
    罗滕贝格:“你为电子邮件服务可能提供的这类信息,例如你的地址簿,这其中包含了私人信息。这与你为社交网络服务提供的这类信息是有区别的。社交网络服务中,人们特意将信息对朋友公开。”

    Mr. Rotenberg says these two kinds of services should be kept separate.
    罗滕贝格先生表示这两类服务必须分开。
     
    MARC ROTENBERG: "By trying to combine these two services, in our view, Google is actually undermining a very well established expectation of privacy, particularly for popular Internet services like electronic mail."
    罗滕贝格:“我们认为,Google试图结合这两类服务,实际上是在破坏对隐私建立的良好期望,特别是在日常网络服务中,如电子邮件。”

    Critics also see a bigger problem with Google's new policy. The plan would not give users a choice to "opt-out" of the data sharing.
    批评者还看到了Google新政策的一个更大的问题。这项计划不会给用户提供一个退出数据分享的选项。

    MARC ROTENBERG: "In our view, if people want to make their personal information available, they certainly should have the right to do that. What we're objecting to is the effort by the company to take away from the users that choice that they should have. That just seems unfair."
    罗滕贝格:“我们认为,如果人们想公开他们的个人信息,他们当然有权力这么做。我们反对的是该公司剥夺了用户应该拥有的选择。这不公平。”
     
    Google says it will not be collecting any more data than it does now. And it says users will still be able to control many privacy settings. For example, they can disable their search history and set Gmail chat to "off the record."
    Google表示不会比现在收集更多的任何数据。 它还表示,用户将任然可以控制选择隐私设置。例如,他们可以禁用自己的搜索历史,并将Gmail聊天设置为“不记录。”
     
    European Union officials have asked the company to delay the new policy to make sure it would not violate any E.U. data protection laws. Marc Rotenberg thinks the Federal Trade Commission in Washington might also try to block the new policy.
    欧盟官员已经要求该公司推迟启用这项新政策,以确保该政策不会违反欧盟数据保护法。罗滕贝格认为,位于华盛顿的美国联邦贸易委员会可能也会试图阻止这项新政策。

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