你的脸就是密码

我今天去超市买东西，没带手机，也没带钱包，就对着门口的机器笑了一下，钱就刷脸支付完了。刷脸支付真的太方便了，我什么都不用拿，也不用记密码。

I went to the supermarket today. I didn't bring my phone or my wallet. I just smiled at the machine by the door and the payment went through by face scan. Paying by face is really so convenient, I don't have to carry anything, and I don't have to remember a password either.

你什么都不带就出门，我听着都替你担心。你对着摄像头笑一下，那张脸就被拍下来了，这张照片后来去了哪里？

You go out without bringing anything at all, just hearing that worries me on your behalf. You smile at the camera and your face gets captured. Where does that photo go afterward?

应该是存在什么地方吧，可是这有什么关系？我又没做坏事，脸被拍一下，能有什么问题？

It's probably stored somewhere, but what does that matter? I'm not doing anything wrong. What's the problem with my face getting captured?

问题是，你不知道那张脸的数据后来被谁收集，又被拿去做什么。我手机上的摄像头，我这几年一直贴着一块胶带，不用的时候就把它挡住。

The problem is, you don't know who ends up collecting that facial data, or what it gets used for afterward. My phone's camera, I've kept a piece of tape over it for years now. When I'm not using it, I keep it covered.

你连自己的摄像头都不相信，是不是想得太多了？

You don't even trust your own camera. Aren't you overthinking this a little?

也许吧。但是你想过没有，密码可以改，脸不能改。要是有一天，公司收集的人脸数据被别人拿走了，你打算怎么办？你总不能换一张脸吧。

Maybe. But have you thought about this: a password can be changed, a face cannot. If one day the facial data a company collected got taken by someone else, what would you do? You can hardly swap in a new face.

这倒是个问题……不过我一直以为，人脸识别只是用来付钱，方便大家而已，没想那么多。

That is actually a real problem. But I always assumed facial recognition was just for paying, just there to make life convenient for everyone. I never thought much further than that.

一开始都是为了方便。可是公司收集了这些人脸识别的数据以后，能不能拿去做广告，能不能卖给别人，谁来决定？你同意的时候，真的看完那些条款了吗？

It's always convenience at the start. But once a company has collected this facial-recognition data, can it be used for advertising, can it be sold to someone else, who decides that? When you agreed to it, did you actually read the terms all the way through?

说实话，没有。条款太长了，我一般都是直接同意。

Honestly, no. The terms are too long. I usually just agree right away.

我也一样。所以我担心的不是刷脸支付这件事本身，而是我们同意的时候，根本不知道自己同意了什么，公司到底收集了多少东西。

Same here. So what worries me isn't paying by face scan itself, it's that when we agree, we have no idea what we're actually agreeing to, or how much a company is really collecting.

那你的意思是，方便和隐私，本来就是反着的，要一个就得放弃另一个？

So are you saying convenience and privacy are just opposites by nature, that wanting one means giving up the other?

我以前也是这么想的，但是现在我觉得，也许不是这样。要是公司能把话说清楚，人脸识别的数据会怎么用，谁能看到，能不能删掉，我们才能真正决定要不要用它。现在的问题是，我们连选择都还没看清楚，就已经同意了。

I used to think that too, but now I think maybe it isn't. If a company could just explain clearly how facial-recognition data will be used, who can see it, whether it can be deleted, then we could actually decide whether to use it. The problem right now is we agree before we've even seen the choice clearly.

这样说的话，我倒觉得，我不是不在乎隐私，我只是没有像你想得那么多。

Put that way, I'd say I'm not someone who doesn't care about privacy, I've just never thought about it as much as you have.

我也不是完全不喜欢刷脸支付，排队的时候，你笑一下就付完了，我确实有点羡慕。

And I don't completely dislike paying by face scan either. Standing in line, you smile and you're done paying, I do feel a bit envious of that.

那你要不要也试一次？

So do you want to try it once yourself?

先不了，我还是想先把那些条款看清楚。你继续用你的脸支付，我继续用我的胶带，我们谁也别笑话谁。

Not yet. I'd still rather read those terms clearly first. You keep paying with your face, I'll keep using my tape, and neither of us laughs at the other.

好，我们就这么说定了。

All right, it's a deal then.