Facebook擬提升隱私政策透明度

Facebook is to try to make privacy settings clearer by creating a hub where users can examine the data they are sharing, in its latest move to address the scandal that has wiped billions of dollars off its market value.

Facebook試圖通過創建一個用戶可以查看其共享數據的樞紐，使隱私設置更加清晰，這是該公司應對導致其鉅額市值蒸發的數據泄露醜聞的最新舉措。

The world’s largest social network said the settings — including which third-party developers were permitted to access a users’ data — would be centralised, pulling together information that was at present distributed around 20 pages within the platform.

這個世界上最大的社交網絡表示，這些設置（包括那些允許第三方開發者訪問用戶數據的設置）將被集中起來，把目前分佈在平臺內約20個頁面的信息彙集到一起。

Rob Sherman, deputy chief privacy officer for Facebook, said the changes to make privacy controls “more prominent” were being worked on before the revelations that the data of up to 50m users were leaked to Cambridge Analytica, a data analysis firm that worked for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He added: “The thing that has been very clear over the past week is that we’ve lost trust and need to work on regaining it.”

Facebook副首席隱私官羅布?謝爾曼(Rob Sherman)表示，數據泄露消息爆出前，公司已經在着手進行調整，使隱私控制“佔據更加突出的地位”。之前媒體爆料稱，多達5000萬Facebook用戶的數據被泄露給唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)競選團隊所聘請的數據分析公司劍橋分析(Cambridge Analytica)。他補充說：“過去一週非常清楚的一點是，我們失去了信任，需要努力重新贏得信任。”

Facebook will also make it easier for users to see all the data that the company holds on them, allowing individuals to explore them by category rather than via a data dump using its old download tool. The new tool could make it easier for users to take their data to a rival, a process that will be required under the EU’s General Data Protection Rules that come into force in May.

Facebook還將讓用戶更容易看到公司持有的有關他們的所有數據，允許個人按類別瀏覽數據，而不是通過舊的下載工具，一下子傾倒大量數據。新工具可以讓用戶更容易將他們的數據帶到競爭對手那裏，這個過程是歐盟《一般數據保護條例》(GDPR)所要求的，該條例將於5月生效。

“It is one thing to read a data policy that explains general practices,” Mr Sherman said. “It is very different seeing your own data and being able to control it.”

“閱讀一份解釋一般性做法的數據隱私保護政策是一回事，” 謝爾曼說，“看到你自己的數據並能夠控制它，是非常不同的另一回事。”

Facebook is under pressure from politicians and regulators over data privacy. John Edwards, the New Zealand privacy commissioner, yesterday became the latest to criticise the company, saying it had breached the country’s privacy laws. Facebook has denied the claim.

在數據隱私問題上，Facebook面臨政界人士和監管機構的壓力。新西蘭隱私專員約翰?愛德華茲(John Edwards)昨日成爲最新一位批評該公司的人，他表示，Facebook違反了該國的隱私權法。Facebook對此予以否認。

The crisis has pushed some Facebook users, including Mr Edwards, to delete their accounts. Others have downloaded their data to understand exactly what the company knows about them.

這場危機促使包括愛德華茲在內的一些Facebook用戶刪除了他們的賬戶。還有一些人下載了他們的數據，以瞭解公司究竟掌握了他們的多少信息。

Yesterday’s announcement follows changes announced by Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive, which largely focused on reducing the amount of data that third-party apps could collect.

昨日聲明發布之前，首席執行官馬克?扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)宣佈了一些調整，重點是減少第三方app可以收集的數據量。

Some privacy experts said Facebook would need to go much further.

一些隱私專家表示，Facebook將需要走得更遠。

Jonathan Kewley of law firm Clifford Chance’s technology group said: “There will need to be further steps and more radical steps. New ways will have to be considered beyond a platform which aggregates all the information they control.”

高偉紳律師事務所(Clifford Chance)科技業務部門的律師喬納森?科利(Jonathan Kewley)表示：“需要採取進一步且更加到位的措施。必須考慮新的方式，而不只是一個把他們控制的所有信息都彙集起來的平臺。”