欧盟青少年网络限制令惹恼硅谷巨头

欧盟青少年网络限制令惹恼硅谷巨头

新法规将意味着，企业如果处理没有征得父母许可的15岁或以下青少年的数据，将构成非法行为，欧盟将于周二对这项针对青少年的网络使用进行限制的法案进行最终讨论。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

blowing a hole 破坏，漏洞

frantic 疯狂的[’fræntɪk]

amendment 修正案[ə’mendmənt]

negotiator 谈判者[nɪ’gəʊʃieɪtə(r)]

savvy 精明的[’sævi]

阅读即将开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用时间，并对照我们在文章最后给出的参考值来估算您的阅读速度。

Europe’s tech-mad teens face tighter parental controls （625words）

By Duncan Robinson in Brussels, Murad Ahmed in London and Hannah Kuchler in San Francisco

* * *

European teenagers face having to secure parental permission to join the likes of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat before the age of 16, under new EU data protection proposals that are riling US technology companies.

The new regulations would make it illegal for companies to handle data from anyone aged 15 or younger without the consent of parents, potentially blowing a hole in the business models of social media companies that have relied on teenage users for rapid growth.

A senior executive at one US tech group said: “This is a ban that will [require] millions of kids and teenagers to get permission from their parents to use internet services. That includes email accounts, social media platforms and downloading apps.”

US tech groups have launched a frantic lobbying effort against the proposal — a last-minute amendment to rules on data protection which have been working their way through Brussels since 2012.

A coalition including Google, Facebook and Twitter on Monday accused negotiators of rushing the amendment and not consulting child-safety organisations. The ICT Coalition for Children Online said there had been no explanation for raising the age for 16, and pushed for it to remain at 13, saying it would only incentivise children between 13-16 to lie about their age and could restrict their access to important online support services.

Alexander Whalen, senior policy manager of Digital Europe, a group which represents the tech industry in Brussels, said: “It is unreasonable to think that a child of 15 needs parental consent in every situation. These are last-minute changes”.

The amendment states that processing data of “a child below the age of 16 years shall only be lawful if and to the extent that such consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child”. In previous drafts, this limit applied only to those 13 and under.

The final round of talks between the European Parliament and member states will start on Tuesday, with legislators hoping to have a deal finalised by the end of the year.

Tech-savvy teenagers brought up in the digital age tend to be early adopters of social networks. The networks themselves then use this as a sales pitch to lure advertisers, who fear they cannot reach a young audience that no longer watches much live TV. This has led to groups such as Snapchat, which lets users send pictures that disappear after a few seconds, being valued at $16bn earlier this year.

All companies — from tech groups to supermarkets — must comply with a host of extra regulations on privacy or face big fines of up to 4 per cent of global turnover, according to the latest texts of the “general data protection regulation”, which has not yet been completed.

Children have to be 13 to join most major social networks from Facebook to Snapchat because of a US regulation that requires sites to obtain permission from their parents before collecting personal information.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act applies to all children under the age of 13 in the US and has become a standard worldwide. However, it does not protect children who lie about their age in order to access networks.

Social networks have begun creating secondary apps specifically for children. The YouTube Kids app was set up to contain only child-friendly programming, while Snapchat has experimented with SnapKidz, an app feature that allowed children under 13 to take pictures and draw on them — but not send them.

Even within these apps, some features have caused controversy. YouTube Kids, released this year, faced criticism for allowing children to search the full site, bringing them into contact with inappropriate material if they sought it out. Parents now have to explicitly decide whether or not to let their children search.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. Who will be the new one to have to get parents’ permission before join the Facebook if the new regulations work?

a. a freshman at college

b. a 15-year-old boy in China

c. children under 13

d. a 14-year-old girl

2. What can a 15-year-old boy do without parents’ permission under the new regulations?

a. email accounts

b. social media platforms

c. send the mobile message

d. downloading apps

3. Where were negotiators accused by the coalition?

a. ignored child-safety organizations

b. increased the expense

c. fewer customers

d. attracted hackers’ attention

4. Why YouTube Kids faced criticism?

a. allowing children to search the full site

b. don’t need parents’ permission

c. children spending too much time

d. collecting personal information

[1] 答案d. a 14-year-old girl

解释：新的欧盟数据保护提议，不到16岁的欧洲青少年必须先获得父母同意才能加入Facebook。旧规定中这个限制是13岁。

[2] 答案c. send the mobile message

解释：这项禁令将（要求）数以百万计的儿童和青少年获得父母的许可才能使用互联网服务。它包括电子邮件账户、社交媒体平台和下载应用。

[3] 答案a. ignored child-safety organizations

解释：包括谷歌(Google)、Facebook和Twitter在内的联盟昨日指责谈判者仓促提出修正内容，而没有咨询儿童安全组织。

[4] 答案a. allowing children to search the full site

解释：文章倒数后两段，尽管媒体公司未来儿童用户开发了专属应用，但还是有批评的声音。