日本办公室监控技术逐渐走向极端

Now in use by several undisclosed blue chip companies in Japan, NEC's new health tool is PC-based and can monitor the mental stability of a workforce while flagging any potential psychological problems. For Japanese management, this could prove indispensable, dealing, as they do, with one of the most overworked and stressed workforces in the developed world. (Japan is second only to South Korea in suicide rates among wealthy nations, suffering an attrition rate nearly double that of the U.S.). According to a promotional leaflet for the app, the check tool works in tandem with workers' "attendance data" and boasts benefits including addressing "lost productivity, and lost cost reduction."
NEC开发的这种新型心理健康检查工具现已在好几家没有公开名称的日本蓝筹公司投入使用。这种基于电脑运行的工具不仅可以显示任何潜在的心理问题，还能够监视员工的心理稳定程度。这一点对于日本的管理者来说或许是不可或缺的，因为他们应对的是发达国家中最劳累、压力最大的劳动力群体之一（在富裕国家中，日本的自杀率仅次于韩国，员工流失率几乎是美国的两倍）。一份宣传单声称，这种检查工具可以跟工人的“考勤数据”协同运行，它的好处包括解决“生产力损失和白费的成本降低机会”等问题。

Japanese surveillance tech also includes tools to check on the quality of train station guards' smiles and face recognition ad boards. And retailers in Japan have tracked their salespeople with GPS tech since 2002.
日本的监视技术还包括检查火车站售票员笑容质量的工具，以及人脸识别广告板。早在2002年，日本的零售商就可以通过GPS技术跟踪销售人员。

These products were introduced without much fuss in the media or protest from the general population. Such deference to employers, some argue, means Japan is riper than most for a total surveillance society. (By contrast, consider the outrage in the U.S. prompted by revelations thatthe NSA had engaged in widespread electronic surveillance of American citizens.
这些产品的推出既没有引发媒体一片哗然，也没有招致普通民众的抗议。一些人声称，对于雇主的这种顺从意味着，日本成为一个全面监控型社会的条件比大多数国家更加成熟。与之形成鲜明对比的是，美国国家安全局(NSA)曾经对美国公民实施大规模电子监控的消息一经披露立即引发美国社会各界强烈反弹。