中印和美歐在隱私保護上越走越遠

A digital divide is opening up in the way data are regulated in emerging and advanced economies. Two developments this week, one in China and one in India, have exposed the challenges posed when technology outpaces privacy and data protection. As the gold rush for consumer data intensifies, the need for a more even playing field for technology companies across multiple markets is becoming clearer. So too is the imperative to protect consumers in the developing world.

在數據監管方式上，新興經濟體和發達經濟體之間的數字鴻溝在不斷擴大。本週發生在中國和印度的兩件事暴露出隱私和數據保護跟不上技術發展帶來的挑戰。隨着發掘消費者數據的“淘金熱”日益升溫，爲不同市場中的科技公司創造更公平競爭環境的需要變得更加明顯。保護髮展中國家消費者的需要也越來越迫切。

It emerged this week that China is developing a system to predict crimes before they happen by tracking the behaviour of its citizens and using facial recognition, mostly on CCTV, to identify their whereabouts. Four provinces already shame jaywalkers by projecting CCTV footage and personal details on to public screens, underlining China’s march towards an omnipresent surveillance state. While the state is unconstrained, a new data protection law does, however, limit some intrusion by private companies.

本週有消息稱，中國正在研發一種在事發前預測犯罪的系統，該系統能追蹤公民行爲並（主要在閉路電視上）利用面部識別技術來識別公民位置。中國有4個省份已經在公共屏幕上播放閉路電視鏡頭和個人詳情，目的是讓亂穿馬路的行人感到羞愧，這凸顯出中國正朝着一個無處不監控的國家邁進。儘管政府不受約束，一部新的數據保護法卻對私人企業的一些侵入行爲進行了限制。

Meanwhile, in India, the government has argued that privacy is not a fundamental right, in a case before the Supreme Court that stemmed from the national biometric ID system. Concerns that personal data are being centralised were fuelled when the government started using the ID system to transfer benefits while simultaneously creating a payment system that allows transactions using fingerprints.

同時，印度政府主張隱私不是一項基本權利，這是印度最高法院在一起源於國民生物識別身份證系統的案件中做出的判斷。印度政府開始利用這個身份證系統來發放福利，同時還開發了一個允許利用指紋來進行交易的支付系統，這激發了對個人數據集中化的擔憂。

By contrast, in the US and EU, both state and private companies face much higher hurdles, designed to safeguard privacy. The French constitutional court, for example, set strict limits on the use of national IDs for law enforcement and the UK abandoned its national ID card programme partly due to privacy concerns. In the US, a lawsuit led Google to change the way it accesses emails. The company also faced a $22.5m fine in 2012 for violating the privacy of Apple users.

相比之下，在美國和歐盟(EU)，無論是政府還是私人企業都面臨着大得多的障礙——設置這些障礙的目的就是保護隱私。比如，法國憲法法院對執法中使用國民身份證的情況有嚴格限制措施，而英國之所以放棄了國民身份證項目，部分原因是出於隱私考慮。在美國，一起訴訟導致谷歌(Google)修改谷歌郵箱登錄方式。該公司在2012年還因爲侵犯蘋果(Apple)用戶的隱私被罰款2250萬美元。

Even putting aside principled arguments, there are clear dangers inherent in lax privacy and data protection laws in some emerging markets. One is the risk that reams of personal data are compromised through leaks. The collection of more information increases both the likelihood and cost of a hack. Meanwhile for western technology companies, the different regulatory regimes create an uneven playing field.

即使把原則性的爭論放在一邊，一些新興市場鬆懈的隱私和數據保護法律會帶來明顯的危險。其一是大量個人數據可能因爲泄露而受損害。收集的信息越多，被黑客入侵的可能性和由此導致的代價就越大。同時，對西方科技公司而言，監管制度的差異製造了不公平的競爭環境。