Tech Companies, Privacy Rights Groups to Fight FBI Again

Technology companies and rights groups are preparing to fight the Federal Bureau of Investigation again over privacy rights.
科技公司和人权组织正准备就隐私权问题与联邦调查局抗争。

The federal government and technology companies have argued many times about the meaning of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment says, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause…”
联邦政府和科技公司已经就美国宪法第四修正案的意义进行了多次争论。该修正案的内容是，“除依照合理根据外，人民的人身、住宅、文件和财产不受无理搜查和扣押的权利，不得侵犯……”

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who died in 1941, called privacy “the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by a free people.”
于1941年去世的前美国最高法院大法官路易斯·布兰代斯把隐私权称为“权利的集大成者，也是一个自由人最宝贵的权利”。

The latest dispute about privacy is about the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, or ECPA. That law took effect 30 years ago.It limits the government’s access to electronic communications and other information.
最近一次关于隐私权的争论是关于《电子通信隐私法案》（ECPA）的。该法案30年前开始实施。它限制了政府取得电子通信和其他信息的途径。

Since the act was passed in 1986, there have been many changes in technology. The act is now considered outdated by many people.
该法案是在1986年通过的，在这期间技术已经有过很多改变。很多人认为现在这个法案已经过时了。

Congress has been considering ways to change the law to protect the privacy of people when they use the internet. At the same time, Congress wants to give government agencies the power they need to enforce laws and protect the public.
国会已经考虑了很多方法修改法律，从而保护人们使用互联网时的隐私权。同时，国会也给了政府机构强制执行法律并保护公众的权力。

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee began considering an amendment to the ECPA. It would expand the government’s ability to collect electronic information. The amendment would permit the government to use a National Security Letter, or NSL. When the government uses an NSL it does not need an order from a judge.
参议院司法委员会上周开始构思ECPA的一项修正案。它将会扩大政府收集电子信息的权力。该修正案将允许政府使用国家安全密函（NSL）。政府使用了NSL，就不需要法官的命令了。

The amendment would let the FBI demand a person’s internet search history and internet protocol address. This would permit the agency to see what websites a person visits and how much time is spent on a site as well as where the internet user is. The agency would not need to get the approval of a judge before getting this information.
这项修正案将使联邦调查局能够强制索取某人的互联网搜索历史和IP地址。联邦调查局将能够看到某人浏览了哪些网页、在某个网页上停留了多长时间，甚至是这位用户在哪里。在得到这些信息之前，联邦调查局将不需要得到法官的许可。

The FBI says the ECPA permits the agency to request such information although it only refers directly to telephone records. FBI Director James Comey has said the amendment is needed to clear up any confusion about what information the agency can gather without a judge’s permission. He says the agency’s work has been slowed in “a very, very big and practical way.”
虽然只与电话记录直接相关，但是联邦调查局称获取这样的信息还需要得到ECPA的批准。联邦调查局局长詹姆斯·康梅说修正案是很必要的，这样就可以厘清在没有法官许可的情况下，他们能够收集哪些信息。他说联调局的工作“很大程度上被实践”拖慢了。

But large technology companies and civil liberties groups wrote to Congress recently opposing the amendment.
但是大的科技公司和公民自由团体最近给国会写信，反对这项修正案。

They said the amendment “would dramatically expand the ability of the FBI to get sensitive information about users’ online activities without court oversight.”
他们说修正案“将会大大扩充联邦调查局在没有法庭监督的情况下获取用户网上活动敏感信息的能力”。

Representatives of Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union and others groups signed the letter.
来自雅虎、谷歌、脸书、人权观察、美国公民自由联盟和其他团体的代表联名签署了这封信。

These organizations are sharply critical of governments’ use of National Security Letters. The letters often ban companies from telling users that their information is being gathered. The organizations believe that the letters give too much power to the government. They also make it difficult to predict what the government may ask for next.
这些团体尖锐地批评了政府对国家安全密函的滥用。这些密函禁止公司通知用户他们的信息被收集了。这些团体认为密函赋予了政府太多权力。这也使得预测政府下一步要求什么变得很难。

Comey has said the amendment is the agency’s top legislative goal.
康梅说这项修正案是联邦调查局的最高立法目标。

I’m Dorothy Gundy.
多萝西·甘地为您报道。