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谷歌事件很復雜，早已遠遠地超越了技術范疇。實際上，谷歌事件是社會科學研究的一個很好的案例，包括政治學、經濟學、新聞學、法律、倫理等各個學科。我們先不做更多的探討，因為那樣做肯定不合時宜。我們這里只探討一下谷歌與美國國家安全局（簡稱國安局）的合作事件。 二月初，google請求美國國家安全局幫助它了改善網絡安全。一石激起千層浪。谷歌此舉在美國引起了有識之士的廣泛擔憂。如今，這種擔憂已經跨出了國界。例如，法國國家科研中心研究員、信息安全專家里基代勒最近表示，谷歌與國安局的合作將對其他國家的國家安全和商業安全構成嚴重威脅。 真的是成也蕭何、敗也蕭何嗎？美國憲法規定，公民享有言論自由(Freedom of Speech)，這是新聞出版自由的基礎。美國法律還規定，公民有自由獲得信息（Freedom of Information）的權利。也就是說，公民可以自由地說、自由地聽。谷歌的貢獻在于后者，它讓全美國人民乃至全世界人民享有自由獲得信息的權利，這是谷歌令人稱頌的地方。 然而，谷歌與國安局的合作卻有可能妨礙公民的言論自由。眾所周知，美國國安局是一個間諜機構，是讓公民反感的政府機關。谷歌向國安局求救，有將靈魂出賣給撒旦之嫌疑。下面我們看一下美國人是如何評論這件事的： ------------ "Google and NSA are entering into a secret agreement that could impact the privacy of millions of users of Google's products and services around the world," the centre's executive director Marc Rotenberg told the New York Times. “谷歌正在與國安局簽訂一份秘密協議，它有可能影響全世界千百萬谷歌用戶的隱私”，華盛頓電子隱私信息中心主任Marc Rotenberg對紐約時報說。 Sam Diaz, blogger and senior editor at ZDNet, a technology website, said he felt "squeamish" about the possibility of information sharing between Google and the government, and was sceptical about the NSA's ability to help protect the company's infrastructure. "I mean no disrespect to my country or my government but I have to ask: Is Washington really the best choice if you're looking for help with something as serious as cyber security?" he wrote. ZDNet資深編輯Sam Diaz說，他對谷歌和政府之間可能的信息共享感到惡心。他懷疑國安局是否有能力保護谷歌的網絡。“我不是不尊重我的國家或政府，但我想問：如果你在就網絡安全這樣嚴肅的事情尋求幫助，那么華盛頓真的是你的最佳選擇嗎？”他寫道。 Andrew Beal, writing in Marketing Pilgrim, said: "Big brother just partnered with big brother. "While it's unlikely that Google's going to hand over any user information, I still don't like how close – and how quickly – Google is snuggling up with perhaps the scariest of all government agencies," he blogged. Referring to the NSA's monitoring of the email and telephone calls of thousands of Americans after the 2001 terror attacks, Beal wrote: "This is the same agency that tapped your phones and emails without a warrant after 9/11. We're supposed to feel confident it won't take a poke around Google's sensitive data?" Andrew Beal 在 Marketing Pilgrim 寫道：老大與老大的勾結 “雖然谷歌不太可能把用戶的信息交出來，但我還是不喜歡谷歌與最可怕的政府部門勾搭得這么近、這么快”，他在博客中寫道。 Beal提到國安局在911之后監聽美國人郵件和電話的事，他寫道：就是這個機構在911之后無證監聽你的電話和郵件。那么我們能夠放心，它不會染指谷歌的敏感數據嗎？ Noah Shachtman, writer of Wired magazine's national security blog Danger Room, described the NSA as a "particularly untrustworthy partner". "We all know that Google automatically reads our Gmail and scans our Google calendars and dives into our Google searches, all in an attempt to put the most relevant ads in front of us," he wrote. "But we've tolerated the automated intrusions, because Google's products are so good, and we believed that the company was sincere in its 'don't be evil' mantra." Shachtman said Google's pledge that its agreement with the NSA would not compromise user data was "hard to believe, given the NSA's track record of getting private enterprises to co-operate, and Google's willingness to take this first step." “連線”雜志的國家安全博客Danger Room的作者Noah Shachtman把國安局描繪成一個“尤其不值得信任的伙伴”。 “我們都知道谷歌自動讀取我們的Gmail、Google日歷和我們的搜索信息，目的是將最相關的廣告放到我們面前，”他寫道。 “但是我們容忍了這種自動的侵犯，因為谷歌的產品那么地好，而且我們相信該公司‘不作惡’的信條是真誠的。” Shachtman說，谷歌承諾它與國安局的協議不會涉及用戶數據的說法“很難令人相信，如果你考慮到國安局讓私有企業合作的劣跡，以及谷歌邁出第一步的意愿。” But the ACLU and others, while admitting they know little about what that relationship would entail, worry that the NSA could intercept private e-mails. So they are trying to keep the links above-board. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records about the NSA's ties to Google and is calling for both Google and the NSA to state the exact terms of any deal. 雖然美國國民自由聯盟（ACLU）和其他團體承認，他們對谷歌與國安局的那種關系的結果知之甚少，但他們仍然擔心國安局會截獲私人郵件。所以他們盡量讓他們之間的聯系公諸于眾。電子隱私信息中心（EPIC）遞出了一份自由信息法案申請，索取國安局和谷歌合作過程的檔案，并敦促谷歌和國安局公布具體的交易條款。 --------------- |
