2012/06/25

’Human barcode’ could make society more organized, but invades privacy, civil liberties 「人體條碼」可能使社會更有秩序,但侵犯隱私、公民自由


◎管淑平
Would you barcode your baby?
你會在你寶寶身上打上條碼嗎?
Microchip implants have become standard practice for our pets, but have been a tougher sell when it comes to the idea of putting them in people.
植入微晶片已成為對我們寵物的標準做法,但談到在人身上打條碼,這個想法就比較難讓人接受。
Science fiction author Elizabeth Moon rekindled the debate on whether it’s a good idea to "barcode" infants at birth in an interview on a BBC radio program.
科幻小說作者伊莉莎白.穆恩在英國廣播公司(BBC)一個廣播節目訪問中,重新點燃有關在嬰兒出生時在身上加「條碼」是不是好主意的辯論。
"I would insist on every individual having a unique ID permanently attached--a barcode if you will--an implanted chip to provide an easy, fast inexpensive way to identify individuals," she said on "The Forum" .
「我會堅持每一個人身上都永久地附上一個獨一無二的身分證─條碼,如果你要這麼說的話─一個植入式晶片,以提供簡單、快速又不貴的辨識個人身分的方法」,她在「論壇」節目上說。
In her opinion, human barcoding would save a lot of time and money.
她的看法是,人體條碼會節省很多時間和金錢。
The proposal isn’t too far-fetched--it is already technically possible to "barcode" a human--but does it violate our rights to privacy?
這個構想並非太過不切實際,要在人體「打上條碼」,技術上已經可行,但這違反我們的隱私權嗎?
"Once we let the government and businesses go down the road of nosing around in our lives...we’re going to quickly lose all our privacy," Stanley, senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Daily News.
「一旦我們讓政府和企業在我們的生活中四處查探…我們很快地就會失去所有的隱私權」,美國公民自由聯盟資深政策分析家史丹利向「每日新聞」說。
新聞辭典:
rekindle:動詞,重新點燃,重新挑起。例句:His letter rekindled my memories of those good old days.(他的信重新喚起我那些往日美好時光的記憶。)
far-fetched:形容詞,牽強的、勉強的、不切實際的。例句:Your far-fetched excuses are not convincing.(你的牽強藉口說服不了人。)
nose around:動詞片語,查探、打聽,四處查看。例句:Police officers are nosing around in the neighborhood for clues.(警察正在這社區四處查探線索。)

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