(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.
Law enforcement agencies across the United States are using cameras to take pictures of automobile license plates. The idea is to build a computerised collection of information detailing the daily travel of millions of Americans.
Arlington County Police Detective Mohammed Tabibi is with the Automobile Theft Department. He uses a license plate readers, also known as a LPR to look for stolen vehicles.
"It has paid dividends. We have caught some people involved in some serious crimes because of the LPR," said Tabibi.
The use of LPRs is growing across the United States. Some are secured to poles along roadsides, others are placed in law-enforcement vehicle. Privacy groups are concerned about the growing use of these devices. They say the information collected is stored on computers and shared with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Jay Stanley is with the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU).
"What they are also doing is storing everybody's time, place, and location. And many police departments are holding that information indefinitely. You know in our society, the government doesn't follow you and invade your privacy and track you unless it has a specific reason that you are involved in wrongdoing," said Stanley.
Until recently, Kevin Rearden served as Captain of the Arlington county Police, he also headed the county's Homeland Security Department before he retired. Mr Rearden said, county policy calls for the LPR information to be kept for six months.
"We originally had a two-month period, and the detectives requested the chief extend it to six months because they found in so many investigations, keeping it for two months wasn't long enough," said Rearden.
But he said, other law enforcement agencies that use the county's information may store it for unlimited periods of time.
Supporters of privacy rights say they have no problem with police departments taking pictures of license plates to investigate crimes. But Jay Stanley says, they're against storing the information for long periods of time.
"...Once you are past a certain periods of time, it is very unlikely it is going to be useful. Meanwhile we are creating this giant infrastructure for tracking everybody all the time," said Stanley.
Retired Arlington country Captain Rearden disagrees.
"They keep bringing up the word tracking. And if I went out and ran your tag in our server, I would not be able to track you. I would be lucky if I could put [you in] a few places in Arlington in a particular time. By no stretch of the imagination would I be able to track you," said Rearden.
The ACLU says Americans need to know how federal officials are using the information collected from LPR cameras, the group has brought federal charges against the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Milagros Ardin.
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.license plate 牌照
Few Chinese cities have been willing to follow suit, other than Shanghai, which charges a fee of several thousand dollars for each license plate.
除了上海之外，很少有中国城市愿意这么做。 上海对每张汽车牌照都额外收取几千美元的费用。
2.law-enforcement 执法
We need to restore respect for the law enforcement agencies.
我们需要重建对于执法机关的尊重。
3.detective adj. 侦探的 n. 侦探
He unbent his mind by reading detective stories.
他以读侦探小说来使他的心情松弛。
4.indefinitely adv. 不确定地，无限期地；模糊地，不明确地
The visit has now been postponed indefinitely.
这次访问现在已被无限期地推迟。
内容解析
1.We originally had a two-month period, and the detectives requested the chief extend it to six months because they found in so many investigations.
extend to 延伸至；扩至；适用范围扩及；给与
The president's power extends to all parts of the whole country.
总统的权力及至全国各个方面。
It was kind of you to extend an invitation to me.
你邀请了我，真好。
The fence extends to the meadow.
篱笆一直延伸到牧草地。
They extended a warm welcome to me.
他们热烈欢迎我。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
美国各地的执法部门正在使用摄像机拍摄机动车牌照，目的是想建立一个电脑化信息集合，以记录无数美国人的日常出行。
阿灵顿县警局的警探Mohammed Tabibi就职于机动车防盗部门，他使用牌照阅读器(LPR)寻找被盗车辆。
“这个阅读器起了大作用，它帮助我们抓住一些严重罪犯。”
LPR在美国越来越多地得到使用，有的被绑在路边电线杆上，有的被放在执法车上。隐私组织对这种设备的使用感到担忧，他们说信息被收集在电脑中，并与当地、州和联邦执法部门共享。
杰伊·斯坦利就职于美国公民联盟(ACLU)。
“他们还记录了每个人的时间、地点和位置。许多警察部门都无限期保存这些信息，你知道在我们社会中，政府不会跟踪你，不会侵犯你的隐私或追踪你，除非你从事了不法活动。”
直到最近，凯文·里尔登还担任过阿灵顿县警局警监，他还在退休前担任该县的国土安全部部长。他说，县级政策要求车牌识别器的信息保存6个月。
“最初是两个月的期限，警探请求局长将期限延长为6个月，因为他们发现在许多调查中，保存两个月并不够。”
不过他说，其他使用该县信息的执法部门可能会无限期地保存它们。
隐私权支持者称他们不反对警察部门拍下拍照以调查犯罪，但杰伊·斯坦利说他们反对将信息保存很久。
“一旦过了一定的时间，信息可能就没用了。同时我们创造这个巨大的设施来一直跟踪人们。”
阿灵顿县退休警监里尔登并不赞同。
“他们一直提跟踪这个词，如果我在服务器上搜索你，我就不能追踪你，如果能某个时刻在阿灵顿县发现你的踪迹就很幸运了，但怎么也不可能跟踪你的。”
美国公民自由联盟说，美国人需要了解联邦官员如何使用LPR相机收集的信息，该组织已对司法部和国土安全部发起联邦指控。
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道，我是Milagros Ardin。
