政府, 請別再監視維基百科

SAN FRANCISCO — TODAY, we’re filing a lawsuit against the National Security Agency to protect the rights of the 500 million people who use Wikipedia every Month. We’re doing so because a fundamental pillar of democracy is at stake: the free exchange of knowledge and ideas.

舊金山——今天，我們對國家安全局(National Security Agency)發起訴訟，以保護每月使用維基百科(Wikipedia)的5億用戶的權利。我們這麼做是因爲此事危及民主的根基，也就是知識和思想的自由交流。

Our lawsuit says that the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance of Internet traffic on American soil — often called “upstream” surveillance — violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects the right to privacy, as well as the First Amendment, which protects the freedoms of expression and association. We also argue that this agency activity exceeds the authority granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Congress amended in 2008.

我們的起訴書指出，國家安全局對美國境內網絡數據往來實施的大規模監控項目——通常被稱爲“上游”監控——違反了憲法第四修正案保護隱私權的規定，以及第一修正案保護言論及集會自由的規定。我們還認爲，該機構的行動越過了國會2008年修訂的《外國情報監視法案》(Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)授予他們的權力。

Most people search and read Wikipedia anonymously, since you don’t need an account to view its tens of millions of articles in hundreds of languages. Every month, at least 75,000 volunteers in the United States and around the world contribute their time and passion to writing those articles and keeping the site going — and growing.

大多數人都是匿名在維基百科中搜索和閱讀，因爲要想查看維基百科中以數百種語言彙編的數千萬條條目，用戶是不需要有賬號的。在美國乃至世界範圍內，每月至少有7.5萬名志願者奉獻自己的時間和熱情，編寫條目，使網站保持運轉——並不斷髮展。

On our servers, run by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, those volunteers discuss their work on everything from Tiananmen Square to gay rights in Uganda. Many of them prefer to work anonymously, especially those who work on controversial issues or who live in countries with repressive governments.

我們的服務器由非營利組織維基媒體基金會(Wikimedia Foundation)運營，這些志願者通過它討論自己的工作，話題涉及從天安門廣場到烏干達同性戀權利問題等各個領域。其中很多人傾向於匿名工作，特別是那些研究有爭議問題的志願者，或者生活在極權統治國家的志願者。

These volunteers should be able to do their work without having to worry that the United States government is monitoring what they read and write. Unfortunately, their anonymity is far from certain because, using upstream surveillance, the N.S.A. intercepts and searches virtually all of the international text-based traffic that flows across the Internet “backbone” inside the United States. This is the network of fiber-optic cables and junctions that connect Wikipedia with its global community of readers and editors.

這些志願者本應自如地開展工作，無需擔心美國政府對他們閱讀、編寫的內容進行監控。遺憾的是，他們的匿名性根本得不到保障，因爲國家安全局利用上游監控攔截並搜尋幾乎所有經由美國“骨幹網”傳輸的、基於文本的國際流量。而這個骨幹網，正是連接維基百科與全球讀者及編輯羣體的光纖和樞紐網絡。

As a result, whenever someone overseas views or edits a Wikipedia page, it’s likely that the N.S.A. is tracking that activity — including the content of what was read or typed, as well as other information that can be linked to the person’s physical location and possible identity. These activities are sensitive and private: They can reveal everything from a person’s political and religious beliefs to sexual orientation and medical conditions.

結果，海外用戶無論什麼時候查看或編輯維基百科頁面，國家安全局都有可能追蹤其活動——包括閱讀或輸入的內容，以及其他涉及個人實際位置及潛在身份的信息。這些活動非常敏感和私密：它們可以透露一切信息，從個人的政治及宗教信仰，到性取向和健康狀況。

The notion that the N.S.A. is monitoring Wikipedia’s users is not, unfortunately, a stretch of the imagination. One of the documents revealed by the whistle-blower Edward J. Snowden specifically identified Wikipedia as a target for surveillance, alongside several other major websites like , Gmail and Facebook. The leaked slide from a classified PowerPoint presentation declared that monitoring these sites could allow N.S.A. analysts to learn “nearly everything a typical user does on the Internet.”

不幸的是，有關國家安全局監控維基百科用戶的想法，並非憑空臆想。告密者愛德華·J·斯諾登(Edward J. Snowden)披露的一份文件明確指出，維基百科以及、Gmail、Facebook等幾家主要網站是監控的目標。一張被曝光的機密PowerPoint幻燈片顯示，對這些網站的監控讓安全局分析師可以瞭解“一個普通用戶在網上的幾乎所有活動”。

The harm to Wikimedia and the hundreds of millions of people who visit our websites is clear: Pervasive surveillance has a chilling effect. It stifles freedom of expression and the free exchange of knowledge that Wikimedia was designed to enable.

這對維基百科及數億訪問我們網站的用戶的傷害是顯而易見的：無處不在的監控產生了寒蟬效應。這壓制了言論自由和知識交流自由，而維基百科旨在使人們可以行使這些權利。

During the 2011 Arab uprisings, Wikipedia users collaborated to create articles that helped educate the world about what was happening. Continuing cooperation between American and Egyptian intelligence services is well established; the director of Egypt’s main spy agency under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi boasted in 2013 that he was “in constant contact” with the Central Intelligence Agency.

在2011年阿拉伯之春運動爆發期間，維基百科的用戶開展合作，創建條目，幫助世界瞭解正在發生的事情。美國與埃及兩國情報機構的持續合作得到了確認；阿卜杜勒-法塔赫·塞西(Abdel Fattah el-Sisi)政府主要情報機構的負責人在2013年誇耀稱，他與中央情報局(Central Intelligence Agency)“一直保持聯繫”。

So imagine, now, a Wikipedia user in Egypt who wants to edit a page about government opposition or discuss it with fellow editors. If that user knows the N.S.A. is routinely combing through her contributions to Wikipedia, and possibly sharing information with her government, she will surely be less likely to add her knowledge or have that conversation, for fear of reprisal.

現在想象一下，埃及有一名維基百科用戶想要編輯一個有關政府反對派的頁面，或與其他編輯進行討論。如果這名用戶知道美國國家安全局定期搜查她爲維基百科貢獻的內容，還可能與自己的政府分享信息，肯定會不願意貢獻內容或進行那樣的對話，因爲她會擔心遭到報復。

And then imagine this decision playing out in the minds of thousands of would-be contributors in other countries. That represents a loss for everyone who uses Wikipedia and the Internet — not just fellow editors, but hundreds of millions of readers in the United States and around the world.

然後再試想其他國家也有數以千計想要貢獻內容的用戶做出了這種決定。這對使用維基百科和網絡的人來說是一種損失——不僅僅是編輯們，還有美國及世界各地的數億讀者。

In the lawsuit we’re filing with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, we’re joining as a fellow plaintiff a broad coalition of human rights, civil society, legal, media and information organizations. Their work, like ours, requires them to engage in sensitive Internet communications with people outside the United States.

我們在美國公民自由聯盟(American Civil Liberties Union)的幫助下提起訴訟，我們像其他組織一樣，作爲原告加入了一個由人權組織、公民社會組織、法律、媒體及信息組織組成的廣泛聯盟。與我們一樣，他們的工作需要與境外人士進行涉及敏感信息的網絡交流。

That is why we’re asking the court to order an end to the N.S.A.’s dragnet surveillance of Internet traffic.

這就是爲什麼我們要求法院下令，終止國家安全局全面監控網絡數據往來的項目。

Privacy is an essential right. It makes freedom of expression possible, and sustains freedom of inquiry and association. It empowers us to read, write and communicate in confidence, without fear of persecution. Knowledge flourishes where privacy is protected.

隱私權是一項基本權利。它是言論自由的先決條件，爲質詢及集會自由提供支持。它使我們有權祕密地閱讀、撰寫和交流，不用擔心遭受迫害。