经济学人217:脸谱和那些13岁以下的孩子们

 　　Business

　　商业报道

　　Facebook and the under-13s

　　脸谱和那些13岁以下的孩子们

　　Kid gloves

　　小心孩子

　　Small children are a big headache for the social network

　　小孩子们现在是社交网络的一个头疼问题

　　ONE American in three aged¹ 65 or older uses social networks, says a new report by the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank.

　　美国智库皮尤研讨中央的一份新报告显示，65岁或是65岁以上的人中，有三分之一的人在使用社交网络。

　　But it is the small surfers, not the silver ones, who are currently making waves.

　　但是在社交网络，如今兴得起风做得了浪的还是年轻的一代，在这里，年龄不是什么优势。

　　Facebook is examining ways to allow children under the age of 13 to use its service, with some form of parental² supervision³.

　　脸谱现在正在研究一些方法，好让年龄在13岁以下的孩子们享受脸谱的服务，当然了，这要在家长的监督之下进行。

　　If this happens—and Facebook stresses that it has not yet decided⁴ whether to go ahead—it would be a venture into uncharted territory.

　　如果这种情况发生—脸谱强调，他们现在还没有决定要不要这么做—向这片未知领域进军，那将是一种冒险。

　　Critics howl that young children lack the maturity⁵ to cope with social networks.

　　评论家们怒嚎，小孩子们太嫩，对付不了社交网络。

　　They also worry that Facebook will find devious⁶ ways to make money from naive⁷ children or, more likely, their parents.

　　他们还担心，社交网络会不会采取一些见不得光的手段，从天真的孩童身上捞钱，或者，更准确点讲，是从孩子们的父母身上捞钱。

　　We would be giving the keys to the chicken coop to the fox, says Doug Fodeman of ChildrenOnline.org, a pressure group.

　　为了防止狡猾的狐狸，我们要给鸡舍上锁，道格?佛德曼说。道格?佛德曼是儿童在线集团的人，儿童在线集团是一个关于儿童压力的组织。

　　There is also the thorny⁸ question of how Facebook could comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act in America,

　　还有一个棘手的问题，脸谱要怎么做，才能让其行为符合美国保护儿童在线隐私法。

　　which was designed to protect children under 13 as they use the internet.

　　保护儿童在线隐私法，是为了让13岁以下的孩子，在上网的时候得到保护。

　　The law stipulates⁹ that online services with youngsters among their customers must obtain the consent of the children's parents before collecting data from them.

　　它规定，如果网络服务的对象时13岁以下的孩子，那么在向孩子们收集资料的时候，必须得到孩子父母的同意

　　Parents also need to be able to review their children's data and have these deleted if they so wish.

　　。父母也需要检查孩子的资料，如果父母觉得这些资料应该予以删除，那么父母就有权删除这些资料。

　　The onerous¹⁰ nature of these and other COPPA provisions explains why social networks have tended to shun¹¹ the young.

　　些规定，还有COPPA的规定，真的是好烦的，这也是为什么社交网络都避开孩子的原因。

　　Facebook insists that you have to be 13 to use its service.

　　脸谱强调，想要享受脸谱的服务，那么等你长到13岁吧。

　　The snag is that children fib about their age.

　　难的是孩子们对自己的年龄撒谎。

　　A study by Consumer Reports found that 5.6m children under 13 were using Facebook in America alone.

　　消费者报告的一份研究显示，单单只是美国，就有560万13岁以下的孩子在使用脸谱。

　　Another survey of American parents found that adults often knew that their children were less than 13 when they joined Facebook.

　　另一份关于美国父母的调查发现，孩子们在小于13岁的时候，就已经加入脸谱了，而对这件事，大人们通常都知道。

　　In many cases, the parents helped them to set up their accounts.

　　甚至在很多情况下，父母帮着孩子建立账号。

　　Regulators have noticed.

　　管理者们已经注意到这一点了。

　　Facebook's current musings may reflect the fear that the firm will run into trouble if it does nothing.

　　目前脸谱正在深思这一问题，如果公司跟没事人似的，问题肯定会有的，早晚的事。

　　It already has slightly more robust¹² privacy settings for children between the ages of 13 and 17.

　　现在针对13岁到17岁之间的孩子，在隐私设置这一块，他们已经稍微做了些还算可靠的举措。

　　But it would need a far tighter regime for younger children, says Sarah Downey of Abine, an online consumer-privacy company.

　　在线隐私公司的负责人萨拉·唐尼说，对于年轻的小辈们，措施还需更为严厉些。

　　In spite of its plummeting¹³ share price, Facebook has oodles of cash from its recent stockmarket flotation.

　　虽然股份持续下降，脸谱还是从最近的股票上市中捞了一大笔钱。

　　So it could easily hire the extra staff needed to support parents and their youngsters, as well as to ensure compliance¹⁴ with COPPA.

　　所以雇佣更多的人员来应对父母，孩子，并且还要保证符合儿童在线隐私保护法案，这对脸谱来说，倒不是件难事。

　　Mark Zuckerberg, the social network's boss, has said he believes children's education should start early.

　　马克·扎克伯格，社交网络的老大，曾今说过，他相信教育要从娃娃抓起这件事。

　　Now he has a chance to prove that he means it.

　　现在历史给他一个机会，证明自己的时刻到了。

　　1.supervision n.监督；管理

　　Children should not be left to play without supervision.

　　孩子玩的时候不能无人照看。

　　2.venture n.冒险；风险；投机

　　All our hopes rested upon this venture.

　　我们所有的希望都寄托在这次冒险上了。

　　3.devious a.迂回的；弯曲的；不正直的

　　The coach followed a rather devious course to its destination.

　　长途汽车要绕很多弯路才到达目的地。

　　4.comply v.顺从；遵照；答应

　　He was willing to comply with my proposal.

　　他愿意顺从我的建议。

　　5.provision n.食品；粮食；供应；规定；条款

　　We set out with enough provisions.

　　我们带上足够的食品出发了。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

3 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

6 devious   

adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的

参考例句：

• Susan is a devious person and we can't depend on her.苏姗是个狡猾的人，我们不能依赖她。
• He is a man who achieves success by devious means.他这个人通过不正当手段获取成功。

7 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

8 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

9 stipulates   

n.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的名词复数 )；规定，明确要求v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的第三人称单数 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• The trade contract stipulates for the settlement of balances in RMB. 贸易合同规定余额以人民币结算。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The contract stipulates for the use of seasoned timber. 合同上订明用干透的木料。 来自辞典例句

10 onerous   

adj.繁重的

参考例句：

• My household duties were not particularly onerous.我的家务活并不繁重。
• This obligation sometimes proves onerous.这一义务有时被证明是艰巨的。

11 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

12 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

13 plummeting   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Prices are rising, falling, going up, going down, shooting up, plummeting, etc. 物价在上涨、下跌、上升、下落、猛然上涨、骤然下跌等。 来自辞典例句
• The enemy plane went plummeting into the sea. 敌机直直掉进海里。 来自辞典例句

14 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。