VOA慢速英语2012--Technology Report - A New Privacy Bill of Rights to Protect Internet Users in the US

Technology Report - A New Privacy Bill of Rights to Protect Internet Users in the US

科技报道 - 美国推出保护互联网用户隐私的《消费者隐私权法案》

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

The Obama administration last week announced a plan to protect Internet users in the United States. The administration has proposed what it calls a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. The bill is meant to give Americans more control over their personal information.

奥巴马政府上周宣布了一项保护美国互联网用户的方案，即政府提出的所谓的《消费者隐私权法案》。该法案旨在赋予美国人在个人信息上更大控制权。

President Obama said last Thursday that “never has privacy been more important than today, in the age of Internet, the World Wide Web and smartphones.”

奥巴马总统上周四表示：“在互联网、万维网和智能手机时代的今天，隐私变得从未如此重要。”

Under the Privacy Bill of Rights, Americans would have more control over what personal data companies collect from them and how they use it. It also would require the companies to be more open about their privacy and security policies.

根据隐私权法案，美国人将对个人信息公司收集和使用个人数据拥有更大控制权。它也将要求这类公司在其隐私和安全政策上更加开放。

Darren Hayes is head of the Computer Information Systems Program at Pace University in New York. He says many countries in Europe and Asia already have online privacy laws in place.

戴伦·海斯（Darren Hayes）是纽约佩斯大学计算机信息系统项目的负责人。他说，许多欧亚国家已经制定了互联网隐私法。

DARREN HAYES: “I think that, you know, this legislation is just, it’s long overdue 1. I think that in its present form it looks very effective and I think that it is a step in the right direction and the average online user does need more transparency and more control over the use of their information.”

海斯：“我认为这一法案有点姗姗来迟，就现状来看它非常有效。我认为这是向正确方向迈进了一步，普通网民在自身信息的使用上确实需要更大透明度和控制权。”

Professor Hayes says the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights holds companies like Facebook and Google to a higher level of responsibility.

海斯教授说，消费者隐私权法案使得Facebook和Google进入一个更为负责任的层次。

DARREN HAYES: “I think in practical terms it’s going to make online companies more accountable for what they do. It also seeks to provide more transparency about how third parties are sharing their information and give the user, hopefully, the ability to opt 2 out of having their information shared.”

海斯：“我认为在实践中，它将使互联网公司对其所作所为更为负责。它还将在有关第三方如何分享信息上寻求提供更大透明度，并有望给予用户拒绝分享个人信息的能力。”

The new measures are part of a larger government effort to improve online privacy. The administration has urged Congress to pass federal legislation in support of the measures. It also wants lawmakers to give the Federal Trade Commission and State Attorneys Generals additional powers to enforce the measures. Professor Hayes says the effectiveness of the bill will depend strongly on that.

这项新措施是政府一项更大规模的旨在改善网络隐私的努力一部分。美国政府已经督促国会通过这项联邦法案作为支持。它还希望国会议员给予美国联邦贸易委员会和州检察官强制执行该措施的新增权力。海斯教授说，该法案的有效性将很大程度上取决于此。

DARREN HAYES: “What’s also going to be important about this legislation are the penalties and fines that will ultimately be imposed for non-compliance.”

海斯：“关于这一法案，另外一点将变得非常重要，那就是对不遵守规定征收的罚款罚金。”

Also last week, a group of Internet browser 3 companies agreed to support plans for adding “do-not-track” technology to their web browsers 4. The group agreed not to use tracking information to target personalized ads to users who do not wish to be identified. The companies will, however, still collect the information.

同样是在上周，一家互联网浏览器公司组织同意在其浏览器上支持引入“禁止追踪”技术。该组织同意不使用追踪信息向不希望被识别的用户发布针对性的个性化广告。然而，这些公司仍将收集这些信息。

And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. For a link to our report on Google’s new privacy policies, which are set to take effect on March first, go to voanews.cn. While there, you can also find transcripts 5, MP3s and podcasts of our reports. I'm Steve Ember.