日本办公室监控技术逐渐走向极端

 　　Having ceded¹ the battle of the gadgets² to Korea and the U.S., Japan's electronics titans need to reinvent themselves -- this time as our great protectors, apparently³.

　　日本电子巨头在手持设备之战输给韩国和美国之后，急需重塑自我。这一次，他们看来打算扮演守护神角色。

　　Harnessing moral panics, such as fear of crime or terrorism, Japan's largest tech companies are growing and investing heavily in systems for executive command and control, surveillance, and border checks. The results are the most sophisticated spy and monitoring tools ever conceived.

　　日本最大的高科技公司正在利用国民对犯罪或恐怖主义的恐慌心理，投入巨资打造行政命令和控制、监视和边境检查系统。它的成果就是一系列极其复杂、令人难以想象的间谍和监视工具。

　　"Japanese companies are the leaders in creating innovative⁴ surveillance technology and implementation⁵, " according to a report from the University of Queens in Canada, published in Company/Governmental Surveillance in Japan, a journal of surveillance studies. Japan's NEC, a leader in the field, now dedicates 10% of its R&D spending to developing these systems.

　　“日本公司在开发创新性监控技术和实施方面已处在全球领先的地位，”加拿大皇后大学(University of Queens)在日本监控研究期刊《公司与政府监控》(Company/Governmental Surveillance)发布的一份研究报告这样写道。作为该领域的领导者，日本的NEC公司投入了10%的研发支出来开发这些系统。

　　日本办公室监控技术逐渐走向极端

　　"Traditionally, Japanese governments have been keen to protect and cultivate domestic electronic companies so that they become the driving force for Japanese economic development, " explains surveillance researcher Kiyoshi Abe at Kwansei University in Japan. "So it's easy for them to develop and introduce more invasive surveillance technology, utilizing⁶ public worry and fear around rising political-military tensions between Japan and China."

　　“传统上，日本政府一直热衷于保护和培育国内电子企业，希望它们成为日本经济发展的推动力，”日本关西大学( Kwansei University)监控研究员小岛清解释说。“所以，对于它们来说，在日本和中国的政治和军事紧张局势持续加深，公众深感担忧和恐惧之际，开发、推出更具侵入性的监控技术是件非常容易的事情。”

　　Nor is this exclusively Japan Inc.'s agenda. Corporations worldwide are cashing in on deployment⁷ of electronic spying and monitoring. The global security software market grew 7.9% in 2012, according to research from Gartner, driven by "new threats and working practices."

　　不过，这也并不是日本公司的专属领地。电子侦察和监视设备的部署正在为世界各地的相关公司带来滚滚财源。根据高德纳咨询公司(Gartner)的研究，2012年，在“新威胁和新工作方式”的驱动下，全球安全软件市场增长了7.9%。

　　Japanese companies, however, appear to be among the vanguard in this space. At a recent NEC tech exhibition in Tokyo, absent were the computer monitors and laptops that once characterized the firm. In their place were booths dedicated⁸ to data surveillance and face recognition systems marketed as "technologies to safeguard lives and property."

　　然而，日本企业似乎正处于这个市场空间的先锋行列。最近在东京举行的一次NEC技术展上，我们看不到这家公司昔日的代表性产品，比如电脑显示器和笔记本电脑。取而代之的，是一些专门陈列数据监视和人脸识别系统的展台。NEC的营销口号声称，这些都是用来“保障生命和财产安全的技术。”

　　The eye-catching "safety solutions" include programs aimed at snooping on workers -- known as "performance monitoring" in the industry -- and an application dubbed⁹ the Mental Health Check Tool. As we grow accustomed to business and the state harnessing the tools of the Information Age to scrutinize¹⁰ everything we do and say -- privacy is no longer a social norm, claims Facebook's (FB) Mark Zuckerberg. Japanese technology, it seems, is going one step further: enabling corporations to monitor our feelings.

　　这些引人注目的“安全解决方案”包括旨在窥探员工的方案（业内的行话叫“性能监控”），和一个被称为心理健康检查工具(Mental Health Check Tool)的应用程序。随着我们越来越习惯企业和国家利用“信息时代”的工具来审查我们的一言一行，用Facebook公司掌门人马克?扎克伯格的话说就是，隐私不再是一种社会规范。而日本的技术似乎正在向前迈出一大步：让企业监控我们的情绪。

　　Now in use by several undisclosed blue chip companies in Japan, NEC's new health tool is PC-based and can monitor the mental stability of a workforce¹¹ while flagging any potential psychological problems. For Japanese management, this could prove indispensable, dealing¹², as they do, with one of the most overworked and stressed workforces¹³ in the developed world. (Japan is second only to South Korea in suicide rates among wealthy nations, suffering an attrition rate nearly double that of the U.S.). According to a promotional leaflet for the app, the check tool works in tandem¹⁴ with workers' "attendance data" and boasts benefits including addressing "lost productivity, and lost cost reduction."

　　NEC开发的这种新型心理健康检查工具现已在好几家没有公开名称的日本蓝筹公司投入使用。这种基于电脑运行的工具不仅可以显示任何潜在的心理问题，还能够监视员工的心理稳定程度。这一点对于日本的管理者来说或许是不可或缺的，因为他们应对的是发达国家中最劳累、压力最大的劳动力群体之一（在富裕国家中，日本的自杀率仅次于韩国，员工流失率几乎是美国的两倍）。一份宣传单声称，这种检查工具可以跟工人的“考勤数据”协同运行，它的好处包括解决“生产力损失和白费的成本降低机会”等问题。

　　Japanese surveillance tech also includes tools to check on the quality of train station guards' smiles and face recognition ad boards. And retailers¹⁵ in Japan have tracked their salespeople¹⁶ with GPS tech since 2002.

　　日本的监视技术还包括检查火车站售票员笑容质量的工具，以及人脸识别广告板。早在2002年，日本的零售商就可以通过GPS技术跟踪销售人员。

　　These products were introduced without much fuss in the media or protest from the general population. Such deference¹⁷ to employers, some argue, means Japan is riper than most for a total surveillance society. (By contrast, consider the outrage¹⁸ in the U.S. prompted by revelations thatthe NSA had engaged in widespread electronic surveillance of American citizens.

　　这些产品的推出既没有引发媒体一片哗然，也没有招致普通民众的抗议。一些人声称，对于雇主的这种顺从意味着，日本成为一个全面监控型社会的条件比大多数国家更加成熟。与之形成鲜明对比的是，美国国家安全局(NSA)曾经对美国公民实施大规模电子监控的消息一经披露立即引发美国社会各界强烈反弹。

1 ceded   

v.让给，割让，放弃( cede的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Cuba was ceded by Spain to the US in 1898. 古巴在1898年被西班牙割让给美国。
• A third of the territory was ceded to France. 领土的三分之一割让给了法国。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

6 utilizing   

v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Utilizing an assembler to produce a machine-language program. 用汇编程序产生机器语言的过程。 来自辞典例句
• The study and use of devices utilizing properties of materials near absolute zero in temperature. 对材料在接近绝对零度时的特性进行研究和利用的学科。 来自辞典例句

7 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

8 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

9 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 scrutinize   

n.详细检查，细读

参考例句：

• Her purpose was to scrutinize his features to see if he was an honest man.她的目的是通过仔细观察他的相貌以判断他是否诚实。
• She leaned forward to scrutinize their faces.她探身向前，端详他们的面容。

11 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

13 workforces   

全体员工( workforce的名词复数 )； （国家或行业等）劳动力； 劳动大军； 劳动人口

参考例句：

• The Web has allowed companies to become more distributed and workforces to become more flexible. 网站已允许各公司更加分散，工作队伍也变得更加灵活。
• They are large centres of business in their own with skilled workforces and business-friendly environments. 从自身条件来说，它们都是大型商业中心，拥有大批技能型劳动力和友好的商业运作环境。

14 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

15 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

16 salespeople   

n.售货员，店员；售货员( salesperson的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The shop usually employs additional salespeople for the Christmas toy trade. 这家商店通常雇一些临时售货员来做圣诞节玩具生意。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Under our new system, salespeople sit down with each of our dealers. 根据新的制度，销售人员应逐个地同承销商洽商。 来自辞典例句

17 deference   

n.尊重，顺从；敬意

参考例句：

• Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗？
• The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。

18 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。