CNN 2011-06-20

Stories “Cross Country”， Union supporters back at the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin. They're protesting a state Supreme¹ Court decision to uphold anti-union law. The controversial measure curbs² collective bargaining rights of teachers and other state employees.

In Arizona a camp fire is reportedly to blame for this wildfire. The largest in state's history. U.S. Forest Service officials tell affiliate³ KNXV that two people are being investigated in connection with this blaze. The fire has scorched⁴ more than 733 square miles in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.

Finally in suburban⁵ Atlanta, a telephone utility truck crashes into a pool filled with 12 swimmers. Luckily, no one was hurt. Police say the driver lost control of the truck after slipping into a diabetic coma⁶.

All right. So this is a pretty scary thought. A stranger taking a picture of your child uploading the photo and then using facial recognition technology to learn personal details about his or her life.

Well, and you wouldn't even ever know about it. Here's how it works. If you Facebook, you tag photos. It makes it easier to find pictures of you and all your friends, but it also takes a lot of time so that's why facial technology was introduced.

But as you can imagine, not everyone is very happy about this. So now advocacy groups have filed a complaint with the FTC over the use of this technology, actually asking Facebook to stop.

Congressman⁷ Ed Markey of Massachusetts is also concerned.

Congressman, let's talk about why you're backing this complaint.

Well, I think that your privacy is the most important thing that you have. And for Facebook just to assume that everyone would want to have this facial recognition technology built into their use of Facebook to allow for basically a resetting⁸ of all of the privacy protections that individuals had established for themselves, so that Facebook would decide that this facial recognition technology would be part of your use of Facebook, is just way over the line.

They should have to get permission. That is, Facebook should have to get permission from each user before such a sensitive change in the way in which people can be recognized just becomes part of the Internet without your control.

And I want to point out. We did reach out to Facebook to get its response to this FTC complaint via e-mail and didn't receive a response.

Now, you Facebook, Congressman. Are you worried about your personal information and how far this could go?

Now, my Facebook is in my office and we put up statements, videos and we abide⁹ by all privacy and security laws. But I'm not concerned there. I'm more concerned about an individual out there, or a child, that just doesn't understand the implications of a picture or any other information being made more public and available to everyone. And I think that we need to actually implement¹⁰ new regulations, new laws in order to give that power over to consumers, rather than giving it to Facebook or other information companies.

And let's just be really direct. We sort of mentioned it at the beginning here. I mean, the situation could be, let's say, your 12-year-old has a Facebook page and a pedophile spots her coming out of school, takes a picture of her, uploads it, does the facial recognition technology, and, poof! All of her information comes up. This pedophile could find out where she lives, what she likes to eat, who her friends are. Correct?

That is correct. Obviously, children especially using this technology, they are 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and that's why I've introduced legislation to create a child online privacy Bill of Rights so that the information that is being gathered that the parent has knowledge of it, that noticed that it might be used for other purposes, and the parent has a right to say, no, they don't want that to happen.

And to demand the company erase¹¹ any information about that child that the parent does not want to have online. We need something like that in an era where predators¹² are out there roaming throughout cyberspace¹³, looking for opportunities to take advantage of children.

We will definitely follow up on the Bill of Rights.

But, real quickly, just to play devil's advocate here, this story just came across yesterday. Actually, my copy editor, Tracy, brought it to my attention. It was out of San Diego. The family ，and we have a picture of this Marine¹⁴ major actually put their father's picture on Facebook and they believe that facial recognition actually helped him find his half-brother that the officer had never met.And now, they are communicating.

So, there's a positive story about what facial recognition technology can do.

And the key there, as you just said, is that the family decided¹⁵ to put the photo up. It was the family's decision.It's not Facebook's decision that a child's picture is up or someone who wants their privacy protected, for whatever reason, puts their picture up. It's that the family decided to use it as a tool.And that should be the balance. It should not be facial recognition. It should be Facebook's recognition that family should be making these decisions and not a corporation.

Congressman Ed Markey, thanks so much for your time

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

3 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

4 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

5 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

6 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 resetting   

v.重新安放或安置( reset的现在分词 )；重拨（测量仪器指针）；为（考试、测试等）出一套新题；重新安置，将…恢复原位

参考例句：

• Range represents the maximum strain which can be recorded without resetting or replacing the strain gage. 量程表示无需重调或重装应变计就能记录到的最大应变。 来自辞典例句
• Adding weight to the puddle jumper by resetting its inertial dampeners. 通过调节飞船的惯性装置来增加重量。 来自电影对白

9 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

10 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

11 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

12 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 cyberspace   

n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界

参考例句：

• She travels in cyberspace by sending messages to friends around the world.她利用电子空间给世界各地的朋友们发送信件。
• The teens spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.青少年花费在电脑上的时间比他们和真正的朋友及家人在一起的时间要多。

14 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

15 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。