翻译题 An Internet privacy bill introduced by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto would prohibit discriminatory data practices. That is a good goal. But which practices qualify as discriminatory is a complicated question.
Privacy activists have long stressed that data over-collection and misuse cause disproportionate harm to minority groups. Often, that harm is prohibited by existing civil rights rules. But those rules were put into place before anyone could have imagined an age of digital discrimination, and companies are circumventing them.
Take targeted advertising. 46 Leaders in the industry make money by allowing advertisers to select the very specific segments of the population they think are most likely to want their products, or by selecting the segments themselves. Sometimes, those categories are the same classes of people that civil rights law exists to protect, such as minorities and women.
47 That can lead to forms of marketing that are not insidious at all: say, promoting women's shoes exclusively to potential customers who have displayed an online interest in women's fashion. It can also lead to obvious abuses, such as companies displaying housing ads only to mainstream individuals, whether by explicitly excluding minorities or engaging in digital redlining via Zip code restrictions. An expanse of gray lies in between. 48 Regulators will have to decide whether to limit anti-discrimination rules to areas where there are traditionally heightened protections or whether—and how—to push beyond those frameworks.
Lawmakers will also have to look at data-based discrimination that is not designed to have an adverse impact on protected groups but does anyway. 49 An algorithm that adjusts an ad's audience to maximize engagement could end up showing a job posting only to men if men click on it most frequently—which could occur for a profession historically unfriendly to women.
There's an added wrinkle. Sometimes, targeting sensitive advertisements based on protected characteristics can actually promote equity. Directing education opportunities to an underserved community is a kind of advertising affirmative action that regulators should take care not to prohibit.
Whatever Congress decides—Ms. Cortez Masto's bill would leave the particulars to the Federal Trade Commission—any law should require that companies of a certain size study how their algorithms do, or don't, hurt the vulnerable. In the data privacy debate, generalized philosophical gripes can sometimes overshadow concrete harms. 50 Putting the discriminatory use of data front and center focuses discussion of a federal framework on what it actually ought to do: protect Americans, especially those who need it most.

问答题 Leaders in the industry make money by allowing advertisers to select the very specific segments of the population they think are most likely to want their products, or by selecting the segments themselves.

【正确答案】定向广告行业领导者的盈利方式是，让广告商挑选他们认为最有可能需要他们产品的特定人群，或他们自己直接挑选目标人群。

【答案解析】本文节选自The Washington Post(《华盛顿邮报》)，原文标题为Defining Digital Discrimination(定义数字歧视)。本文由新提出的互联网隐私权法案切入，通过介绍数字歧视的多种案例，说明其复杂性，并建议法律充分重视数字歧视问题，以更好地保护弱势群体的权益。本句中第一个by引导的方式状语较长，其中包含一个省略了引导词that的定语从句，修饰the very specific segments of the population。前半句可采取分译的方式。 [参考译文] 一项由参议员凯瑟琳·科特斯·马斯托提出的互联网隐私权法案提议将禁止歧视性数据的做法。目标是好的。但哪些做法算作歧视性的却是个复杂问题。隐私权活动家长期以来一直强调，数据的过度收集和滥用对少数群体造成了很大伤害。在很多情况下，过度收集和滥用数据造成的伤害是现行民权法规明确禁止的。但这些法规实施时，尚没有人想到会出现一个数字歧视时代，也没有人想到公司会设法规避这些法规。以定向广告为例。定向广告行业领导者的盈利方式是，让广告商挑选他们认为最有可能需要他们产品的特定人群，或他们自己直接挑选目标人群。有时候，被选中的群体恰恰是民权法所要保护的人群，比如少数群体和女性。这种定向广告可能导致毫不遮掩的市场营销形式：比方说，专门向那些在网上对女性时装表现出兴趣的潜在用户推销女鞋。定向广告也可能导致明显的数据滥用，比如一些公司或直接排除少数群体，或通过邮政编码限制实行数字红线歧视，从而仅对主流人士显示住房广告。针对性市场营销和数据滥用之间是一大片灰色区域。管理者必须决定，是否将反歧视法规仅局限于传统上享受特殊保护的领域，抑或是否——以及如何——扩大其实行范围。立法者也必须留意那种并非有意为之但确实对受保护群体产生了不利影响的数据歧视行为。调整广告受众以最大化参与度的算法可能最终导致一份招聘启事仅对男性展示，如果男性点击得最频繁的话——这种情况可能发生在一贯对女性不友好的行业中。还有额外的一点。有时候，基于受保护特征的定向敏感广告确实可以促进公平。向政府关照不周的群体给予特定的教育机会是一种积极的广告行为，管理者要当心不要禁止这种行为。无论国会是否通过这项提案——科特斯·马斯托女士的提案将交由联邦贸易委员会商讨细节——任何法律都应要求一定规模的公司研究他们的算法将会怎样，或怎样避免伤害弱势群体。在对数字隐私权的讨论中，泛泛的哲学层面的抱怨有时候会影响对具体危害的关注。将数据的歧视性使用视为重中之重，会使联邦法律的讨论集中于法律真正应发挥的效用：保护美国人，尤其是那些最需要法律保护的美国人。

问答题 That can lead to forms of marketing that are not insidious at all: say, promoting women's shoes exclusively to potential customers who have displayed an online interest in women's fashion.

【正确答案】这种定向广告可能导致毫不遮掩的市场营销形式：比方说，专门向那些在网上对女性时装表现出兴趣的潜在用户推销女鞋。

【答案解析】本句句首的that的具体指代内容，翻译时应翻译完整。主句中包含一个that引导的定语从句，修饰forms of marketing，翻译时可前置到先行词前。冒号后面的内容是对主句的一个举例性的解释说明，其中包含一个who引导的定语从句，修饰potential customers，翻译时定语前置。

问答题 Regulators will have to decide whether to limit anti-discrimination rules to areas where there are traditionally heightened protections or whether—and how—to push beyond those frameworks.

【正确答案】管理者必须决定，是否将反歧视法规仅局限于传统上享受特殊保护的领域，抑或是否——以及如何——扩大其实行范围。

【答案解析】本句为包含一个定语从句的复合句。宾语是两个由or连接的并列宾语，都为whether+动词不定式结构。and how为插入语，语义上与whether并列，可理解为whether and how to push beyond...。

问答题 An algorithm that adjusts an ad's audience to maximize engagement could end up showing a job posting only to men if men click on it most frequently—which could occur for a profession historically unfriendly to women.

【正确答案】调整广告受众以最大化参与度的算法可能最终导致一份招聘启事仅对男性展示，如果男性点击得最频繁的话——这种情况可能发生在一贯对女性不友好的行业中。

【答案解析】本句包含的从句较多，但并不难理解。that引导的是限制性定语从句；if引导的是条件状语从句；which引导的是非限制性定语从句。

问答题 Putting the discriminatory use of data front and center focuses discussion of a federal framework on what it actually ought to do: protect Americans, especially those who need it most.

【正确答案】将数据的歧视性使用视为重中之重，会使联邦法律的讨论集中于法律真正应发挥的效用：保护美国人，尤其是那些最需要法律保护的美国人。

【答案解析】本句为包含一个宾语从句的复合句。句子结构为主语+focuses A on B结构，冒号后的部分对what引导的宾语从句进行解释说明。