中印和美欧在隐私保护上越走越远

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.

在数据监管方式上，新兴经济体和发达经济体之间的数字鸿沟在不断扩大。本周发生在中国和印度的两件事暴露出隐私和数据保护跟不上技术发展带来的挑战。随着发掘消费者数据的“淘金热”日益升温，为不同市场中的科技公司创造更公平竞争环境的需要变得更加明显。保护发展中国家消费者的需要也越来越迫切。

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.

本周有消息称，中国正在研发一种在事发前预测犯罪的系统，该系统能追踪公民行为并（主要在闭路电视上）利用面部识别技术来识别公民位置。中国有4个省份已经在公共屏幕上播放闭路电视镜头和个人详情，目的是让乱穿马路的行人感到羞愧，这凸显出中国正朝着一个无处不监控的国家迈进。尽管政府不受约束，一部新的数据保护法却对私人企业的一些侵入行为进行了限制。

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.

同时，印度政府主张隐私不是一项基本权利，这是印度最高法院在一起源于国民生物识别身份证系统的案件中做出的判断。印度政府开始利用这个身份证系统来发放福利，同时还开发了一个允许利用指纹来进行交易的支付系统，这激发了对个人数据集中化的担忧。

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，在美国和欧盟(EU)，无论是政府还是私人企业都面临着大得多的障碍——设置这些障碍的目的就是保护隐私。比如，法国宪法法院对执法中使用国民身份证的情况有严格限制措施，而英国之所以放弃了国民身份证项目，部分原因是出于隐私考虑。在美国，一起诉讼导致谷歌(Google)修改谷歌邮箱登录方式。该公司在2012年还因为侵犯苹果(Apple)用户的隐私被罚款2250万美元。

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.

即使把原则性的争论放在一边，一些新兴市场松懈的隐私和数据保护法律会带来明显的危险。其一是大量个人数据可能因为泄露而受损害。收集的信息越多，被黑客入侵的可能性和由此导致的代价就越大。同时，对西方科技公司而言，监管制度的差异制造了不公平的竞争环境。