Having ceded the battle of the gadgets to Korea and the U.S., Japan's electronics titans need to reinvent themselves -- this time as our great protectors, apparently.
日本電子巨頭在手持設備之戰(zhàn)輸給韓國和美國之后，急需重塑自我。這一次，他們看來打算扮演守護神角色。
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.
日本的高科技公司正在利用國民對犯罪或恐怖主義的恐慌心理，投入巨資打造行政命令和控制、監(jiān)視和邊境檢查系統(tǒng)。它的成果就是一系列極其復雜、令人難以想象的間諜和監(jiān)視工具。
"Japanese companies are the leaders in creating innovative surveillance technology and implementation," 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.
“日本公司在開發(fā)創(chuàng)新性監(jiān)控技術和實施方面已處在全球的地位，”加拿大皇后大學(University of Queens)在日本監(jiān)控研究期刊《公司與政府監(jiān)控》(Company/Governmental Surveillance)發(fā)布的一份研究報告這樣寫道。作為該領域的，日本的NEC公司投入了10%的研發(fā)支出來開發(fā)這些系統(tǒng)。
"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, utilizing public worry and fear around rising political-military tensions between Japan and China."
“傳統(tǒng)上，日本政府一直熱衷于保護和培育國內(nèi)電子企業(yè)，希望它們成為日本經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的推動力，”日本關西大學( Kwansei University)監(jiān)控研究員小島清解釋說�！八�，對于它們來說，在日本和中國的政治和軍事緊張局勢持續(xù)加深，公眾深感擔憂和恐懼之際，開發(fā)、推出更具侵入性的監(jiān)控技術是件非常容易的事情。”
Nor is this exclusively Japan Inc.'s agenda. Corporations worldwide are cashing in on deployment 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."
不過，這也并不是日本公司的專屬領地。電子偵察和監(jiān)視設備的部署正在為世界各地的相關公司帶來滾滾財源。根據(jù)高德納咨詢公司(Gartner)的研究，2012年，在“新威脅和新工作方式”的驅(qū)動下，全球安全軟件市場增長了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 dedicated to data surveillance and face recognition systems marketed as "technologies to safeguard lives and property."
然而，日本企業(yè)似乎正處于這個市場空間的先鋒行列。最近在東京舉行的一次NEC技術展上，我們看不到這家公司昔日的代表性產(chǎn)品，比如電腦顯示器和筆記本電腦。取而代之的，是一些專門陳列數(shù)據(jù)監(jiān)視和人臉識別系統(tǒng)的展臺。NEC的營銷口號聲稱，這些都是用來“保障生命和財產(chǎn)安全的技術。”
The eye-catching "safety solutions" include programs aimed at snooping on workers -- known as "performance monitoring" in the industry -- and an application dubbed the Mental Health Check Tool. As we grow accustomed to business and the state harnessing the tools of the Information Age to scrutinize 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.
這些引人注目的“安全解決方案”包括旨在窺探員工的方案（業(yè)內(nèi)的行話叫“性能監(jiān)控”），和一個被稱為心理健康檢查工具(Mental Health Check Tool)的應用程序。隨著我們越來越習慣企業(yè)和國家利用“信息時代”的工具來審查我們的一言一行，用Facebook公司馬克?扎克伯格的話說就是，隱私不再是一種社會規(guī)范。而日本的技術似乎正在向前邁出一大步：讓企業(yè)監(jiān)控我們的情緒。
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 workforce while flagging any potential psychological problems. For Japanese management, this could prove indispensable, dealing, as they do, with one of the most overworked and stressed workforces 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 tandem with workers' "attendance data" and boasts benefits including addressing "lost productivity, and lost cost reduction."
NEC開發(fā)的這種新型心理健康檢查工具現(xiàn)已在好幾家沒有公開名稱的日本藍籌公司投入使用。這種基于電腦運行的工具不僅可以顯示任何潛在的心理問題，還能夠監(jiān)視員工的心理穩(wěn)定程度。這一點對于日本的管理者來說或許是不可或缺的，因為他們應對的是發(fā)達國家中最勞累、壓力的勞動力群體之一（在富裕國家中，日本的自殺率僅次于韓國，員工流失率幾乎是美國的兩倍）。一份宣傳單聲稱，這種檢查工具可以跟工人的“考勤數(shù)據(jù)”協(xié)同運行，它的好處包括解決“生產(chǎn)力損失和白費的成本降低機會”等問題。Japanese surveillance tech also includes tools to check on the quality of train station guards' smiles and face recognition ad boards. And retailers in Japan have tracked their salespeople with GPS tech since 2002.
日本的監(jiān)視技術還包括檢查火車站售票員笑容質(zhì)量的工具，以及人臉識別廣告板。早在2002年，日本的零售商就可以通過GPS技術跟蹤銷售人員。
These products were introduced without much fuss in the media or protest from the general population. Such deference to employers, some argue, means Japan is riper than most for a total surveillance society. (By contrast, consider the outrage in the U.S. prompted by revelations thatthe NSA had engaged in widespread electronic surveillance of American citizens.)
這些產(chǎn)品的推出既沒有引發(fā)媒體一片嘩然，也沒有招致普通民眾的*。一些人聲稱，對于雇主的這種順從意味著，日本成為一個全面監(jiān)控型社會的條件比大多數(shù)國家更加成熟。與之形成鮮明對比的是，美國國家安全局(NSA)曾經(jīng)對美國公民實施大規(guī)模電子監(jiān)控的消息一經(jīng)披露立即引發(fā)美國社會各界強烈反彈。
In another study from the University of Queens, Japanese employees reported feeling fatalistic about snooping by the state, although some voiced distaste for employer breaches of privacy during focus group discussions. "I don't really care about the government collecting data on me if it is for security purposes," was one typical response.
根據(jù)皇后大學的另一項研究，日本員工據(jù)說對國家的窺探采取了一種聽天由命的態(tài)度，盡管一些人在小組討論會上聲稱非常討厭雇主侵犯自己的隱私。典型的反應是，“如果是出于安全目的，我真的不在意政府收集我的數(shù)據(jù)�！�
Such faith in authority and a lack of public debate no doubt encouraged a confident Japanese government to recently railroad a new secrets bill into law that will significantly curtail free speech. The law, which went into effect last week, makes it a crime to divulge any secret the Japanese government deems vital to state security. Officials have refused to elaborate on what categories of secrets they are referring to, rendering investigative journalism and whistle-blowing nearly impossible, with offenders facing 10-year jail terms. Spirited dissent from the opposition came too late.
對*的信任，以及公開辯論的缺失，無疑促成了一個胸有成竹的政府。日本政府最近強行通過了一項必將顯著削弱言論自由的法案。這項已于上周正式生效的法律規(guī)定，泄露任何被日本政府視為國家安全機密的信息即構成犯罪行為。政府官員拒絕詳細說明這項法律所指的機密包括類別，進而使得調(diào)查性新聞報道和舉報幾乎面臨絕跡的可能，因為違法者將面臨10年刑期。同時，來自*的激烈異議來得太晚了。
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has argued that the new security measures are necessary to plug a notoriously leaky government machine, which prevents the U.S. from sharing intelligence with Japan.
日本首相安倍晉三認為，就堵塞泄密丑聞頻發(fā)的政府機器而言，這些新的安全措施非常必要。此前，因日本政府的保密工作不力，美國一直不愿意與日本共享情報。
But, as Kwansei University's Abe points out, a burgeoning cold war with North Korea and China has thrown Japan into new moral panic, sending the state to look to technology to make itself feel safe. Foreigners are now electronically photographed and fingerprinted at Japan's borders. NEC is also currently working on border control technology that will make "fortress America" look like a ring of roses, according to one source who was not authorized to speak publicly on these matters.
但正如關西大學的小島清所言，與朝鮮和中國持續(xù)發(fā)酵的冷戰(zhàn)讓日本陷入新的道德恐慌之中，導致政府尋求通過技術手段獲得安全感�，F(xiàn)在，外國人進入日本國境時需要接受電子拍照和指紋采集。一個未獲權公開談論這些議題的消息源透露稱，NEC公司目前也在開發(fā)一種將讓“美國堡壘”看起來像是玫瑰花環(huán)的邊境控制技術。
"So the market for surveillance in Japan is very attractive for electronic companies like NEC, Sony (SNE), and Panasonic," says Kwansei University's Abe.
小島清說：“因此，日本的監(jiān)視市場對NEC、索尼(Sony)和松下( Panasonic)等電子公司極具吸引力�！�
Gripped by fear of war, terrorism, and crime in general, there has never been a better time to sell total surveillance to what is one of the safest countries in the world. Yet Japanese people contend they have much to fear, contrary to the facts. "Japan tends to evaluate risks using two level scales: 'safe' and 'not safe.' Often there is nothing in-between," says Ivan Poupyrev, a researcher who lived in Japan for 15 years.
對于戰(zhàn)爭、恐怖主義和普通犯罪的恐懼猶如烏云一般籠罩在日本國民的心頭。推銷全面監(jiān)控，再也沒有比現(xiàn)在更好的時機了。盡管日本是全球最安全的國家之一，但有違事實的是，日本人聲稱他們擔心許多事情。在日本生活了15年的研究員伊萬?波普列夫說：“日本傾向于使用兩個層級評估風險，即‘安全’和‘不安全’，通常沒有介于二者之間的層級。”
In fact, the country has a very low crime rate that has been declining over the last 60 years. Japan's particularly successful brand of social cohesion has resulted in densely crowded cities -- like Tokyo -- where it is common to see children as young as six walk home alone in apparent safety. Although those same children are often subject, like nowhere else in the world, to electronic surveillance, tracked by special GPS software provided by mobile networks to anxious parents.
事實上，過去60年來，這個國家原本就已經(jīng)非常低的犯罪率一直在呈下降趨勢。日本特別成功的社會凝聚力品牌促成了許多類似東京這樣的人口密集型城市。東京街頭顯然非常安全，我們時�？梢钥吹侥陜H6歲的孩童一個人步行回家。然而，這些孩子往往也是電子監(jiān)控的對象——焦慮的父母通過移動網(wǎng)絡提供的專用GPS軟件跟蹤自己的子女，這種現(xiàn)象在全世界可謂。
Rather than being "empowered by innovation," as NEC would have it, Japan might be the first nation to be "enslaved by innovation" given that so few of its citizens care about their rights. No matter the intentions, such snooping opens the door to abuse. Nothing is being done to stop such behavior. The maxim that Japan is a "nation of sheep ruled by wolves" never seemed so apt.
NEC公司的宣傳口號是“創(chuàng)新帶來力量”(empowered by innovation)，但鑒于關心自身權利的日本國民少之又少，事實或許恰恰相反，日本有可能成為第一個“被創(chuàng)新奴役”(enslaved by innovation)的國家。無論本意如何，這種窺探都給濫用大開方便之門。目前并沒有任何旨在阻止這種行為的措施。有一句格言說嗎，日本是一個“被狼統(tǒng)治的綿羊之國”，如今看來似乎再貼切不過了。
