離婚戰爭的新武器 社交媒體信息

A marriage is not just the union of two people. It is also the union of their data. And when they divorce, the data often gets spilled.

婚姻不只是兩個人的結合。雙方的數據也會融合在一起。當他們離婚的時候，這些數據往往會外泄。

The electorate is now witnessing a vivid example of this, arising from the separation of Anthony D. Weiner, a former congressman, and Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton. The F.B.I. is poring over their emails with a presidential election just days away.

美國選民正在見證一個鮮活的例子，由前國會議員安東尼•D•韋納(Anthony D. Weiner)和希拉里•克林頓(Hillary Clinton)的高級助手胡瑪•阿貝丁(Huma Abedin)的離婚案引發。在距離大選日只剩幾天時，聯邦調查局(FBI)正對他們兩人的郵件展開偵查。

Divorce lawyers and data analysts interviewed on Monday said less public versions of this story play out all the time.

幾位離婚律師和數據分析師週一接受採訪時表示，此類事件時有發生，只不過沒那麼吸引公衆注意。

“The problem is, once they’ve already engaged in bad behavior, it’s out there,” said John Slowiaczek, the president-elect of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. “You can’t recapture it, you can’t bury it.”

“問題是，如果他們之前做了壞事，就會留在那兒，”美國婚姻律師學會(American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers)候任主席約翰•斯洛維亞切克(John Slowiaczek)說。“你無法取回，也不能掩埋。”

No matter a person’s level of technical skill, it can be difficult to hide digital behavior from a spouse, a spouse’s lawyers or, in Mr. Weiner’s case, federal investigators.

不管一個人的技術水平如何，都很難向配偶、配偶的律師，或如韋納這個案子裏的聯邦調查人員，隱藏自己的數字蹤跡。

In August, Ms. Abedin, one of Mrs. Clinton’s closest aides and confidantes, informed her husband, a disgraced former congressman and mayoral candidate, that she wanted to separate after his latest sexting scandal. A federal investigation of Mr. Weiner revealed a trove of messages, including some belonging to Ms. Abedin.

今年8月，與克林頓關係最近的助手、密友阿貝丁在她丈夫最新一起性醜聞曝光後，通知這位名譽掃地的前國會議員和前市長候選人，表示她想離婚。針對韋納的聯邦調查披露了大量信息，其中有些屬於阿貝丁。

Nancy Berg, the president of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a partner at the law firm Berg, Debele, DeSmidt & Rabuse, said that it was not uncommon to see situations like that of Ms. Abedin’s, where, she said, “her husband’s garbage is destroying her life.”

國際家庭法律師學會(International Academy of Family Lawyers)主席、伯格-德貝萊-德米特-拉布斯(Berg, Debele, DeSmidt & Rabuse)律所合夥人南希•伯格(Nancy Berg)表示，阿伯丁這樣被“丈夫的破事毀掉她的生活”的情況，並不少見。

In divorce proceedings, lawyers and investigators routinely mine public social media profiles for a glimpse into the activities of the client’s spouse.

在離婚訴訟中，律師和調查人員會例行地查看公開的社交媒體信息，以窺探客戶配偶的活動。

But their investigations go far beyond that, as they sift through whatever data they can legally obtain for signs of hidden assets or to catch the spouse in a significant lie. Lawyers are likely more focused on questions of finance and child custody than lurid questions of adultery or betrayal.

但他們的調查遠遠超過了這個層面，因爲他們仔細檢查了可以合法獲得的所有信息，不管那是什麼，目的是尋找配偶隱藏財產的蹤跡，或抓到對方有重大謊言的證據。律師們可能更關注財務和孩子撫養權的問題，而非駭人聽聞的通姦或背叛行爲。

Even so, a computer “tells you everything about a person’s character,” said Brook Schaub, a forensic analyst and licensed private investigator at the accounting firm Eide Bailly. It has “become the file cabinet, the stationery, the social networking, the everything,” he said.

儘管如此，一臺電腦還是“可以告訴你有關一個人性格的一切”，艾德-貝利(Eide Bailly)會計師事務所的法證分析師、持照私家偵探布魯克•肖布(Brook Schaub)說。它“變成了文件櫃、信箋、社交媒體，所有的一切，”他說。

The data that can become publicly available depends largely on the individuals’ penchant for privacy and how careful they have been. Even those who value privacy during the relationship are at risk of the former spouse finding sensitive data.

這種數據有可能被大衆獲得，這在很大程度上取決於個人對隱私重視程度和他們的謹慎程度。哪怕是在一段關係中比較看重隱私的人，也會有被前任配偶發現敏感信息的風險。

The first steps taken after the divorce process begins can be critical.

你在離婚程序啓動後採取的第一步，會非常關鍵。

Christine Leatherberry, a family lawyer in Dallas, said she recommended that her divorce clients create a new email account, stop sharing calendars and turn off the ability for apps on their phones to track their locations.

達拉斯家庭法律師克里斯蒂娜•(Christine Leatherberry)表示，她會推薦自己的離婚客戶創建一個新的郵件賬戶，停止分享日程，並關掉手機上各應用的定位功能。

Someone committed to finding embarrassing or otherwise discrediting information about a spouse can most likely find a way, especially if he or she is willing to flout the law. Such revelations may not be admissible in court, but they could bring professional ramifications or personal embarrassment.

只要有心想找可以讓配偶難堪或名譽受損的信息，幾乎總是會有辦法，尤其是如果他或她不惜藐視法律的話。這類披露信息可能無法在法庭上使用，但它們會帶來職業上的後果，或使個人陷入難堪。

Take, for instance, the security questions that most important digital accounts, including email and banking, use to recover passwords if forgotten. Identifying your mother’s maiden name or the street you grew up on might foil distant identity thieves, but not a spouse.

比如，包括郵箱和銀行賬戶在內，大多數重要的數字賬戶在用戶忘記密碼時會通過安全問題來恢復。辨認你母親的孃家姓或兒時住在哪條街，或許能難住遠在他方的身份竊賊，但難不住你的配偶。

Annette Burns, a family lawyer in Phoenix, suggested concocting untruthful answers that you could remember but that no one else could guess.

對於這類問題，來自菲尼克斯的家庭法律師安妮特•伯恩斯(Annette Burns)建議人們編一個自己能記住但沒人能猜得到的虛假答案。

Frank Rudewicz, a principal at Marcum L.L.P. of Boston who focuses on forensic practice, said people had gone so far as to install malware on a spouse’s computer that would log keystrokes.

波士頓麥楷會計師事務所(Marcum L.L.P.)的一位主管、主要從事取證工作的弗蘭克•魯德維奇(Frank Rudewicz)表示，人們會做得很過，以致在配偶的電腦上安裝可以記錄按鍵信息的惡意軟件。

But there are also fully innocent and legal ways that a spouse can gain access to what was thought to be private data, especially among those lacking savvy with their technology.

但也有一些完全無害的合法方式可以讓配偶獲得被認爲是私密的信息，尤其是對自己使用的技術缺乏瞭解的人。

As an example, a text message could go simultaneously to a phone and an iPad that was left with children or a former spouse, something many people forget or don’t know, especially if they didn’t set the devices up themselves.

比如，一條短信可能會同時地發到手機和被孩子或前任配偶拿着的iPad上。許多人經常忘了這一點，或壓根不知道，尤其是在這些設備不是他們自己設置的情況下。

“It’s so convenient to have our texts pop up all over, and all of our computers synced,” Ms. Burns said. “But if one of those computers is left at home, that means your separated spouse has access to everything.”

“我們的信息太容易在各個地方突然冒出來，因爲我們所有的設備都是同步的，”伯恩斯說。“但如果其中一部電子設備被落在家裏，那意味着你與分居的配偶就可以獲得裏面所有的信息。”

Mr. Slowiaczek said that the trend of social media evidence in divorce cases had started between five and eight years ago and had picked up “dramatically” over the last three to five years.

斯洛維亞切克表示，在離婚案中使用社交媒體證據的趨勢是在五到八年前開始顯現，並在過去三五年裏“急劇”流行起來。

He said evidence from social media was a “primary source for virtually anyone who has any divorce practice whatsoever, for getting information not only to understand our own clients, but also to understand the dynamics of people on the other side of a case.”

他表示，從社交媒體獲取的證據是“一個主要的信息來源，基本上處理任何離婚案的人都會用，我們不僅可以從中獲得理解自己客戶的信息，還能瞭解案件另一方的情況。”

Mr. Schaub described a case he had handled in which a father who had been unemployed for several years had claimed that he had been acting as a “Mr. Mom.” His computer use revealed a different story.

肖布講述了一個他經手的案件，其中一位已經失業好幾年的父親聲稱自己一直在扮演“奶爸”的角色。但他使用電腦留下的信息卻暴露了一個不同的故事。

”His activity during the day is not dedicated to doting on the kids, it’s sitting at the computer, doing various things,” Mr. Schaub said, whether that be viewing pornography or racking up debts on online poker sites.

“他白天的時間沒有用來陪伴孩子，而是坐在電腦旁，做各種各樣的事，”肖布說。比如看色情片，或者在在線撲克網站上打牌，欠下更多債務。

Ms. Leatherberry said she did not recommend people who have filed for divorce delete photos, texts or social media posts, because that could be considered destruction of evidence. But people should be aware that lawyers introduce text messages and social media posts into almost all of their hearings and trials, she said.

萊瑟貝里表示，她不建議申請離婚的人刪除照片、短信或社交媒體上的帖子，因爲那可能被視作銷燬證據。但她也表示，人們應該意識到，律師會把短信和社交媒體上的信息用在幾乎所有的聽證會和案件審理中。

“Anything they put in a text or an email or in social media, assume it will be blown up onto a poster board in a courtroom one day,” she said.

“在短信和郵件中，或在社交媒體上寫任何信息，都假設它會有一天會被放大顯示在法庭的佈告板上，”她說。