美国网友评论：沃尔玛用来监控员工的专利 [美国媒体]

It looks like Amazon and Walmart, which have long been battling it out in the retail arena, both want to keep a very close eye on their workers. Earlier this year, Amazon patented smart wristbands that can make sure a warehouse worker's hands are always moving. Now, its rivalhas patented an audio surveillance system, which can be used to listen to conversations between employees and customers at checkout. Before you freak out and think that Walmart has been listening to all the juicy gossip you've been dropping at checkout lines, know that it's still just a patent. And, of course,the company has refused to confirm or deny whether it's planning to actually use the technology to spy on its workers.

看起来亚马逊和沃尔玛这对零售领域的竞争对手，都在密切关注他们的员工。今年早些时候，亚马逊申请了智能腕带专利，可以确保仓库工人的手一直在移动。现在，它的竞争对手已经申请了一个音频监控系统专利，它可以用来收听结账时员工和客户之间的对话。当然，在你感到惶恐，想象沃尔玛一直在收听你在收银台上听到的那些无聊闲话的时候，它还只是一项专利。该公司拒绝确认他们是否计划使用这项技术来窥探其员工。

A spokesperson told BuzzFeed News:
"We're always thinking about new concepts and ways that will help us further enhance how we serve customers, but we don't have any further details to share on these patents at this time."

一位发言人告诉BuzzFeed新闻：
"我们一直在考虑新的概念和方法，以帮助我们进一步提高服务客户的能力，但目前关于这些专利我们没有任何的进一步细节可供分享”。

The audio surveillance system Walmart designed is composed of several sensors that can collect all kinds of audiodata, including beeps and the rustling of paper bags. Any data it gathers can be used to assess an employee's performance -- for instance, the sounds items make when they're placed inside a bag can tell the company how efficient someone is at bagging purchases. Customers' voices can also indicate how long a line is and how quickly a cashier can get through all of them.

沃尔玛音频监控系统是由多个传感器组成的，可以收集各种声音数据，包括嘟嘟声和纸袋的沙沙声。它收集的任何数据都可以用来评估员工的工作表现——例如，当他们装包时，声音系统可以告诉公司在打包物品时的效率。顾客的声音也可以显示出排队的长度以及一位收银员能在多长时间内为他们服务完毕。

As BuzzFeed News points, though, the mostinvasive feature is the system's ability to understand conversations and use them to judge an employee's performance: "If however the performancemetric is based on the content of the conversation (e.g., was a specific greeting used or script followed), the system can process the audio detected by the sound sensors 102 (e.g., using speech recognition) to determine the performance metric." It could get chattier cashiers in trouble even if they're customer favorites for being helpful and friendly.

按照BuzzFeed新闻的观点，最具侵入性的特征是系统能够理解会话并使用它们来判断员工的表现：“如果衡量的标准基于会话内容（例如，使用的特定问候语或脚本），该系统就可以处理由声音传感器102（例如，使用语音识别）检测到的音频，以确定服务质量。“它可能会让聊天的收银员遇到麻烦，即使他们对客户充满友好提供帮助，是客户的最爱”。

The idea definitely suits Walmart'sbusiness model in the same way smart wristbands suit Amazon's, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will be effective. Cornell Industrial and LaborRelations School assistant professor Ifeoma Ajunwa told the publication that"Several studies have shown that there is a psychological impact of pervasive surveillance." She said that it "can lead to this opposition feeling, where employees view the employer not as benevolent, but asdictators." In other words, the audio surveillance system could back fireon the retail giant and give rise to a resistance. If Walmart still decides to install it, though, there's little employees can do: Ajunwa says it's perfectly legal, so long as the company says it's for business purposes.

这个想法绝对适合沃尔玛的商业模式，就像智能腕带适合亚马逊的一样，但这并不一定意味着它将是有效的。康奈尔工业和劳资关系学院助理教授阿贾玛对该媒体说：“有几项研究表明，普遍的监视会产生心理上的影响。”“这可能会导致某种对立情绪，员工会认为老板不仁慈。”换句话说，音频监控系统可能会对这家零售巨头产生反作用，产生阻力。如果沃尔玛仍然决定安装它，那么它将失去大部分的员工，尽管阿贾玛说这是完全合法的，只要公司声称纯粹是商业行为的话。

Wish we had this kind of surveillance in Congress.

希望我们在国会进行这种监视。

Anonymous
What about the States that require both parties (employee and customer in this case) consent for legal eavesdropping?

国家是否需要为合法监听取得双方（这种情况下就是员工和客户）的同意？

Anonymous
We are under surveillance everywhere,whether we know it or not.

无论我们知道与否，我们到处都受到监视。

MeiLing
Once Sam left they never treated employeeswell again

山姆离开后，他们再也不好好对待员工了。（山姆•沃尔顿先生。沃尔玛创始人）

chrisroc
Umm...NO. It's things like this that keepme from shopping at Walmart
额……不，就是这样的原因使得我不在沃尔玛购物。

Darla
Well thanks Walmart for giving us morereasons to shop online.

好吧，感谢沃尔玛给我们更多在网上购物的理由。

Smooth
Forgot to mention it also listens tocustomers conversations

别忘了提它也听客户谈话

Sherry
Can Walmart employees record interactionswith their managers for business purposes?

沃尔玛员工能记录他们与经理的对话吗？

Sandy
oh they are about to get an earfull!

他们早就准备这么干了！

Scott H
They're already doing this at self checkoutmachines.

他们已经在自助结账机上这么干了。

anonymous
customers outnumber employees those aretheir real targets no more walmart for me thank you

顾客比员工重要，这才是他们真正的目标，谢谢。

Cute Sloth
This is why unions are a good thing.

工会是一个好东西。

MARKLE
And retailers wonder why people prefer to shop online?

零售商们想知道为什么人们喜欢网上购物吗？

SoldierOfFortune
Nothing is private anymore. This is reallyagainst our constitution.

没有什么是私人的了。这真的违反了我们的宪法。

welltim
Walmart is taking a leadership role in theconversion of the democracy to a surveillance state.

沃尔玛在将民主转变为监视状态方面发挥领导作用。

Charles R
If this is confirmed to be true, it's justanother way Walmart is finding a way to get rid of it's employees. The Walton'sare no longer concerned about it's number one asset .... the employee, they areonly concerned about that paycheck they get arrives in their bank account. IfSam Walton were around today, he would never have approved of such asurveillance device.

如果这被证实是真的，那只是沃尔玛找到另一种方法来疏远它的员工。沃尔顿不再关心它的头号资产…员工们只关心他们拿到的银行账户里的薪水。如果山姆•沃尔顿今天还在的话，他是绝对不会赞成这种监视装置的。

Practical Liberal
Hey WalMart! How about investing in betterstuff to sell instead of spying on your employees? Better products - that's howyou make money.

嘿，沃尔玛！把钱花在销售更好的产品上，而不是对你的员工进行间谍活动？——你赚钱的方式是更好的产品！

Savannah
Walmart... Just one more reason to take your business elsewhere.

沃尔玛。。。这是让你滚出美国的另一个理由。

Oricle
If you treat your employees right and withrespect, you won't have to worry about what they are doing.

如果对你的员工好并尊重他，你就不必担心他们的所作所为。

Buz
No business is TOO BIG to fail.

没有生意是大到不能倒的。

dawn
If it's in the shopping carts, I won't gothere anymore.

如果它在购物车里，我就不再去那里了。

Just another guy
All they need now is a whip!

他们现在需要的只是鞭子！

Travis C
since recording someone without theirpermission is illegal in most circumstances (including this one) Walmart isopening themselves up to being sued for invasion of privacy because they arerecording customers conversations without expressed permission. Dont expect meto sign a paper when i walk in your store either. I will get back in my car anddrive somewhere else if you do.

在大多数情况下（包括这件事），未经许可人的记录是非法的。沃尔玛正在走在被公开起诉侵犯隐私的路上，因为他们在未经许可的情况下记录顾客的谈话。当我走进你的店里时，不要指望我同意这个。如果你这么做的话，我会回到车里，开车去别的地方。

JOHN
So much for customer privacy

客户隐私如此之多

Casper
Privacy concerns?

隐私问题？

Libredneck
That gadget is illegal in every state I'veworked in.

那个工具在我所工作的每个州都是非法的

Randolph
" Earlier this year, Amazon patentedsmart wristbands that can make sure a warehouse worker's hands are alwaysmoving. "
What if I need an ergonomic break?

“今年早些时候，亚马逊申请了智能腕带，可以确保仓库工人的手一直在移动。”
如果我身体需要休息呢？

Michael
Why do we subject cashiers to this level ofscrutiny, but not law enforcement officers or government officials?

为什么我们要让收银员服从这一层次的审查，而不是执法人员或政府官员呢？

Royall
That is not legal.

那是不合法的。

Heelix
That's great, but seeing that WalMart isall about taking jobs away from people and installing self-checkouts I'm notsure this invention is going to yield much benefit...

这很好，但是看到沃尔玛都是从人们那里拿走工作并安装自助结账机，我不确定这项发明会带来多少好处。

ChineseAreLittleFaggots
Corporations have more power than thegovernment.

公司比政府拥有更多的权力。

roger
Just another reason to go to college unlessyou like working for Walmart.

这是你应该去上大学的另一个原因，除非你喜欢在沃尔玛工作。
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