Data privacy : Copy that
数据隐私：照猫画虎
America needs a data protection law. Take Europe’s and improve on it
美国需要一部数据保护法律，用欧盟的法律来照猫画虎
AMERICA rarely looks to the bureaucrats of Brussels for guidance. Commercial freedom appeals more than dirigisme. But when it comes to data privacy, the case for copying the best bits of the European Union’s approach is compelling.
美国很少会向布鲁塞尔的官僚寻求指导。贸易自由显得比国家控制重要的多。但就数据隐私保护领域而言，借鉴欧盟的措施总最精华的部分就显得有吸引力多了。
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is due to come into force next month. It is rules-heavy and has its flaws, but its premise that consumers should be in charge of their personal data is the right one. The law lets users gain access to, and to correct, information that firms hold on them. It gives consumers the right to transfer their data to another organisation. It requires companies to define how they keep data secure. And it lets regulators levy big fines if firms break the rules.
一般数据保护法案（GDPR）将于下个月生效。法案规定严格并且存在一些缺陷，不过关于用户应当可以控制自身的个人数据这个基本前提上却是正确的。法案授权用户可以获取并且修正那些已经被公司所获取的个人信息。法案授予用户将他们的数据传输给其他组织的权利。法案要求公司解释其是如何保证数据安全的。并且法案授予监管者如果公司违规可想起征收高额的罚款。
America has enacted privacy rules in areas such as health care. But it has never passed an overarching data-protection law. The latest attempt, the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, introduced in 2012 by the Obama administration, died a slow death in Congress. The GDPR should inspire another try.
美国已经在诸如医疗服务领域实行了隐私保护法案。但从来没有颁布过十分重要的数据保护法案。上一次于 2012 年间在奥巴马任内的立法尝试，也就是消费者隐私权法案没有获得议会通过。GDPR 的应当促使美国再次立法。
The failings of America’s self-regulatory approach are becoming clearer by the week. Large parts of the online economy are fuelled by data that consumers spray around without thought. Companies’ arcane privacy policies obfuscate what they do with their users’ information, which often amounts to pretty much anything they please. Facebook is embroiled in crisis after news that data on 87m users had been passed to a political-campaign firm. Identity-theft is widespread; the annual cost to American consumers exceeds $16bn, according to some estimates. On March 29th Under Armour, a clothing brand, said that hackers had gained access to information about 150m users of its MyFitnessPal app.
美国数据保护这方面的自我监管失败在这周变得愈加明显。互联网经济的很大一部分助力来自于用户未经思考便将自身的数据随意提供。互联网公司诡异的隐私政策迷惑了用户，使其并不知道这部分隐私数据将用于何处，而实际上公司可将这部分数据用户其想用的任何地方。在将 8700 万用户的数据提供给一家政治竞选公司后，Facebook 公司陷入了危机。身份信息窃取变得普遍化，基于一些估算，每年美国用户因此需要花费超过 160 亿美元。一家服装品牌 Under Armour 在 三月二十九日表示，有黑客通过其 MyFitnessPal app 获取了大约 1.5 亿用户的个人数据。
