上網不留痕 巧用火狐瀏覽器保護隱私

The makers of the web-browser Firefox are working on a system which will allow Internet users to stop themselves from being tracked on-line.
　　火狐瀏覽器的製造商們正在開發一個互聯網用戶可以防止自己在線時被跟蹤的系統。

Mozilla wants to build a mechanism which will allow people to opt out of companies secretly monitoring which websites they visit, currently a common practice.

火狐的Mozilla瀏覽器希望建立一個系統，使人們在瀏覽一些網站的時候可以選擇脫離那些隱祕地監視他們的公司，因爲網絡追蹤目前是一個很普遍的現象。

Internet giants like Google and Facebook use such information to sell targeted adverts and make money without ever asking the consent of the user.

諸如谷歌和Facebook這樣的網絡巨頭也會通過將這樣的信息賣給他們的目標廣告商而獲利，但他們並沒有徵得他們用戶的同意。

Mozilla executives and other developers are to appear before a special panel this week in the U.S. to discuss how they will put an end to this.

火狐的高管和開發人員本週在美國出席了一個特別小組會議，商討如何結束這個現狀。

Such a move would be welcomed by privacy campaigners who have long complained that Google and Facebook are taking liberties with the information they gather without properly consulting the wider public.

這樣的舉措將會受到那些一直抱怨谷歌和Facebook濫用公衆信息的隱私守護者的歡迎。

They say such practices are part of a wider disregard for personal data which was recently highlighted by the scandal over Google grabbing householders’ personal emails and passwords with its StreetView cars.

由於最近谷歌爲了它的產品StreetView的車而攫取住戶們的個人郵箱和密碼，被評論說這樣的做法相當於大範圍地無視個人信息。

Currently companies like Google and Facebook make a fortune using ‘cookies’ that automatically save themselves onto your computer when you surf the web then monitor your browsing history.

近期，像谷歌和Facebook這樣的公司利用信息記錄程序cookies大賺了一筆，這些cookies會在用戶的電腦上自動保存下來，之後在用戶上網時監控瀏覽了哪些網站。This data is then sold on to advertisers who put highly lucrative targeted adverts on the individual’s screen, depending on what Internet pages they have recently been looking at.

依靠用戶最近都瀏覽了哪些網頁，他們把這些信息出售給了在個人屏幕上花大價錢的廣告商們。

Officials from Mozilla and on-line advertising company Lotame want to come up with a way of stopping this amid fears the U.S. government will at some point step in and do it for them.

火狐和在線廣告公司Lotame的官員希望能想出一個方式阻止人們的擔心，美國政府也會在適當的時候介入此事。

At a specially convened panel they will discuss how to allow web browsers to broadcast a ‘do not track’ message at a user's request.

這個特別召集的小組討論瞭如何在用戶的要求下允許瀏覽者播放一個“請勿追蹤”的信息。

For such a system to work, however, would require both the web browser to provide such a tool and tracking companies to agree to abide by the user’s wishes - an outcome which would require lengthy negotiations to say the least.

但是，這樣的系統需要瀏覽者提供這樣一個工具，同時這些追蹤的公司也要信守用戶的願望。而達到這樣的結果可以說至少還需要長時間的談判。

Mike Shaver, vice president of engineering at Mozilla, summed up the plan by saying the aim was to ‘put the user in control but not overwhelm them’.

火狐技術部的副總裁Mike Shaver用這樣一句話總結了這項計劃，“目的是讓用戶主導但並不壓倒他們”。

Previous attempts to remodel Internet privacy have been met with controversy - earlier this year Microsoft scaled back plans to improve privacy on its latest version of Internet Explorer after pressure from the advertising industry.

之前關於重塑互聯網隱私的嘗試都遇到了一些爭議，在今年早些時候，面對廣告業的壓力，微軟削減了在其新版本的IE瀏覽器上加強隱私保護的計劃。

Firefox is the second most popular web-browser and is used by around 23 per cent of the world’s users.

火狐是第二大瀏覽器，世界上有23%的用戶選擇火狐。

Internet Explorer is still at No.1 with 59 per cent and Google’s Chrome is used by 9 per cent, in third.

IE瀏覽器仍然以59%的比重位列第一，谷歌的Chrome瀏覽器佔9%，排名第三。