What Is Online Privacy? 什么是网络隐私？

奥尔加·苏什科 译/郭硕 Olga Sushko

Online privacy， also known as internet privacy or digital privacy， refers to how much of your personal， financial and browsing information remains private when youre online.

This has become a growing worry， with browsing history and personal data all potentially at risk when online.

Many people underestimate the importance of online privacy， but they should be aware of how much information theyre sharing—not just on social networks， but just by browsing itself.

Why online privacy is so important

Its important to remember that nothing is free： whether it be downloading apps， using a companys “free” email service （such as Gmail） or social networks like Facebook. Even visiting a website means youre sharing data about yourself. And， as some people in your life know you better than others， online privacy exists on a spectrum1： some online entities gather and store more information about you than other platforms.

Online privacy is important for numerous reasons. You dont want to share details of your personal life with strangers and its hard to be sure what personal information is gathered and by whom： information collected by one company might be shared with another.

You might be uncomfortable with bespoke2， targeted ads that remember your internet search history.

Even more problematic is information sold from one company to another， or data gathered and shared without your consent. Ultimately， this is identity theft.

Public concern over internet privacy

In a recent poll of American internet users， 81% said they believe they have no control over data collected by private companies. Worse—the number climbs to 84% when asked if they could control the governments collection of their data.

GDPR

In the EU， concerns like these were addressed with GDPR （General Data Protection Regulation）. This set of laws， passed in 2016 and implemented in 2018， was intended to protect the privacy and data of every EU citizen.

There are 99 articles in GDPR. These include：

· the right to know what data a company holds about you

· an opportunity to refuse a company access to browsing history and cookies when you visit their site

· clear responsibility for companies to gain consent for customer information

· stricter regulations regarding contacting customers and sharing contact details with third parties

The right to be forgotten

“The right to be forgotten” is a relatively new phrase， but it grows in rele-vance every time someone visits a site. Some tech companies have customer information dating back years， logging every site they visited， their preferences， shopping habits， political views and more.

The right to be forgotten is the right to ask those companies to delete and surrender3 this information.

This can extend to online chatter and third-party discussions： there have been cases where people have fought to have their names and images removed from “revenge porn4” （and search engine results for same）. Some have requested past personal stories （involving petty crime or embarrassing viral stories） be taken off the internet.

This is an ongoing debate. On one side5， the right to be forgotten arguably protects those who want privacy and not be reminded of previous mistakes. Those opposed （who， incidentally include some tech giants） argue that it amounts to6 censorship7and could lead to the rewriting of history.

What is information privacy？

This is sometimes referred to as data privacy or online privacy.

Information privacy is an element of online security that looks at the following issues：

· data acquired

· how data is collected or stored

· whether or not data is shared with a third party

· regulatory restrictions， such as GDPR

Many companies such as Google， Amazon and Facebook have profited handsomely in the “data economy”， —accumulating user data to maximise either product or ad sales. Good practice regarding information privacy means keeping customer information secure， not sharing it with third parties without consent or using data maliciously or negligently.

Personal privacy vs sensitive information

When it comes to internet privacy， there is personal and sensitive information. They are defined the following ways：

Personal information—identifiers8， such as name， IP address， address， etc.

Sensitive information—very private data like medical records， but also information that you might not be ready to share publicly， such as your sexual orientation or political views.

How does privacy differ from information security？

Online privacy and security often overlap， as one sometimes affects the other. They can be differentiated this way.

Privacy—you want the company you deal with （say， a bank or a social network） to keep your data and information itself， not share it publicly or with third parties. In this instance， privacy is breached but security is maintained.

Security—this is the next step. If the data shared includes （for instance） financial information or your home address， then both privacy and security is compromised.

网络隐私，又称互联网隐私或数字隐私，指人们上网时个人信息、财务信息及浏览记录不被他人知悉的程度。

由于上网时浏览历史和个人数据都面临着潜在风险，人们对网络隐私的担忧日益加剧。

很多人对网络隐私的重要性不以为意，但对于自己泄露了多少个人信息应该心中有数——不只是那些发布在社交网络上的，还包括通过浏览行为本身泄露的。

网络隐私为何如此重要

无论是下载应用软件，还是使用谷歌等公司的“免费”邮箱服务，抑或是使用脸书等社交网络，须知世上没有免费的午餐，这点很重要。即便只是访问某个网站，也会泄露有关自己的数据。另外，就像生活中有些人会比其他人更了解你一样，网络隐私的泄露也有程度之分：一些网络公司收集和存储的个人信息比其他平台要多。

网络隐私之所以重要，原因众多。你不会愿意和陌生人分享个人生活的种种细节，你也很难确切了解是谁收集了你的哪些信息，因为一家公司可能会把它收集到的信息泄露给其他公司。

那些通过记忆网络搜索历史而为你量身定制的广告推送，可能也会令你不胜其烦。

更有甚者，个人信息由一家公司贩卖给另一家，个人数据未经同意就被收集、传播。归根结底，这是身份盗窃。

公众对互联网隐私的担忧

近来一项美国网民民意调查显示，81%的人认为自己对私企收集数据的行为毫无办法。更不容乐观的是，当被问及他们能否左右政府收集数据的行为时，持否定回答的人数比例上升至84%。

《通用数据保护条例》

欧盟出台了《通用数据保护条例》（GDPR）以解决诸如此类的担忧。这套法规于2016年通过，于2018年施行，旨在保护每一位欧盟公民的隐私和数据。

该条例共99条。其中包括：

· 公民对企业掌握的个人数据内容享有知情权

· 公民有权利拒绝企业在其访问网站时获取其浏览记录和本地缓存

· 企业有明确责任在获取客户信息前征得其同意

· 对联系顾客及向第三方提供联络信息的行为有更为严格的规定

被遗忘权

“被遗忘权”虽然是个比较新的短语，但网站访问量每有新增时，都更显其重要性。一些科技公司握有客户多年的个人信息，记录了他们访问过的每个网站，以及他们的爱好、购物习惯、政治观点等很多内容。

被遗忘权即人们有权要求这些公司删除并销毁此类信息。

这也适用于线上聊天和涉及第三方的讨论。曾有人打官司要求把自己的名字和照片从“报复式色情”内容以及搜索结果列表中清除。也有人要求从网络上刪掉他们过往的个人经历（包括轻罪史和广为流传的尴尬事）。

如今，这场争论依旧如火如荼。一方面，被遗忘权按理可为注重隐私、不愿重提前非的人提供保护;而另一方面，碰巧也包括一些科技巨头在内的反对者则认为，这无异于内容审查，可能导致历史遭篡改。

何为信息隐私？

信息隐私有时也称为数据隐私或网络隐私。

信息隐私是网络安全的一部分，主要关注以下方面：

· 获取的数据内容

· 收集或存储数据的方式

· 数据是否提供给第三方

· 监管部门的限制规定，比如GDPR

谷歌、亚马逊、脸书等诸多公司，通过积累用户数据实现了产品或广告销售的最大化，从而在“数据经济”中赚得盆丰钵满。良好的信息隐私保护行为要求确保客户的信息安全，未经客户同意不向第三方提供其数据，不恶意、随意使用这些数据。

个人隐私 vs 敏感信息

说到互联网隐私，它涉及个人信息和敏感信息。二者定义如下：

个人信息：能够识别个人身份的各种信息，如姓名、网际协议地址、住址等。

敏感信息：病历等非常隐私的数据，也包括一些不愿公之于众的信息，比如说性取向或政治立场。

隐私与信息安全有何区别？

网络隐私和网络安全常有交集，因为二者有时互为影响。可以这样来区分两个概念。

先说隐私。假设你希望你打交道的公司（比如银行或社交网络）自己保存你的数据和信息而不将其泄露给公众或第三方，那么这种情况下，隐私没有得到保全，但是安全有保障。

再说安全。如果提供的数据包含（例如）财务信息或家庭住址，那么隐私和安全就都无保障了。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者;单位：天津铁道职业技术学院）