VOA慢速英語:License Plate Readers Raise Privacy Concerns

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語科技報道。

Law enforcement agencies across the United States are using cameras to take pictures of automobile license plates. The idea is to build a computerised collection of information detailing the daily travel of millions of Americans.

美國各地的執(zhí)法機構都在使用相機拍攝汽車車牌，他們的想法是建立一個電腦化的信息集合體，詳細記錄數(shù)百萬計美國人的日常出行。

Arlington County Police Detective Mohammed Tabibi is with the Automobile Theft Department. He uses a license plate readers, also known as a LPR to look for stolen vehicles.

阿靈頓縣警局的警探Mohammed Tabibi就職于汽車防盜部門。他使用一臺車牌識別器搜尋被盜車輛。

"It has paid dividends. We have caught some people involved in some serious crimes because of the LPR," said Tabibi.

他說，“車牌識別器已經做出了貢獻，有了它的幫助，我們已經抓獲一些涉及嚴重犯罪的人。”

The use of LPRs is growing across the United States. Some are secured to poles along roadsides, others are placed in law-enforcement vehicle. Privacy groups are concerned about the growing use of these devices. They say the information collected is stored on computers and shared with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

車牌識別器的應用在美國各地日趨增長。它們有些固定在道路沿線的電線桿，有些安裝在執(zhí)法車輛上。隱私團體對這些設備使用日趨頻繁深感擔憂。他們表示，車牌識別器收集到的信息儲存在電腦上，并和聯(lián)邦、州以及其它當?shù)氐膱?zhí)法機構共享。

Jay Stanley is with the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU).

杰伊·斯坦利就職于美國公民自由聯(lián)盟( ACLU ) 。

"What they are also doing is storing everybody's time, place, and location. And many police departments are holding that information indefinitely. You know in our society, the government doesn't follow you and invade your privacy and track you unless it has a specific reason that you are involved in wrongdoing," said Stanley.

他說，“他們還記錄了美國人的時間、地點和位置。并且許多警察部門無限期保存這類信息。你知道在美國，政府不會監(jiān)視你，不會侵犯你的隱私，不會跟蹤你，除非是因為你涉及不法行為。”

Until recently, Kevin Rearden served as Captain of the Arlington county Police, he also headed the county's Homeland Security Department before he retired. Mr Rearden said, county policy calls for the LPR information to be kept for six months.

凱文·里爾登擔任阿靈頓縣警局警監(jiān)直到最近，他在退休前還負責過該縣的國土安全部。里爾登先生表示，縣級政策要求車牌識別器的信息保存6個月。

"We originally had a two-month period, and the detectives requested the chief extend it to six months because they found in so many investigations, keeping it for two months wasn't long enough," said Rearden.

里爾登說，“我們最初保存該信息兩個月，警探向領導要求將其延長至6個月，因為他們在很多調查中發(fā)現(xiàn)，保存兩個月時間不夠長。”

But he said, other law enforcement agencies that use the county's information may store it for unlimited periods of time.

但他表示，其它使用該縣信息的執(zhí)法機構可能會無限期的保存它們。

Supporters of privacy rights say they have no problem with police departments taking pictures of license plates to investigate crimes. But Jay Stanley says, they're against storing the information for long periods of time.

隱私權支持者表示，他們對警察部門拍攝車牌查案并無異議。但斯坦利表示，他們反對長期儲存這些信息。

"...Once you are past a certain periods of time, it is very unlikely it is going to be useful. Meanwhile we are creating this giant infrastructure for tracking everybody all the time," said Stanley.

“這些信息一旦過去一段時間就不太可能還有用。而與此同時，我們把這一龐大的基礎設施用于時刻跟蹤人民。”

Retired Arlington country Captain Rearden disagrees.

阿靈頓縣退休警監(jiān)里爾登對此并不贊同。

"They keep bringing up the word tracking. And if I went out and ran your tag in our server, I would not be able to track you. I would be lucky if I could put [you in] a few places in Arlington in a particular time. By no stretch of the imagination would I be able to track you," said Rearden.

里爾登說，“他們一直提出跟蹤這個詞。如果我去我們的服務器上搜索你，我并沒有辦法跟蹤你。如果我能在特定時間，在阿靈頓縣的一些地方發(fā)現(xiàn)你的蹤跡，那是我運氣好。我怎么也想不通我怎么能跟蹤你。”

The ACLU says Americans need to know how federal officials are using the information collected from LPR cameras, the group has brought federal charges against the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.

美國公民自由聯(lián)盟表示，美國人必須知道聯(lián)邦官員如何使用車牌識別器攝像頭收集的信息。該組織已經對司法部和國土安全部發(fā)起聯(lián)邦指控。