{"id":73,"date":"2011-12-11T23:21:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-11T23:21:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2017-01-18T18:35:16","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T18:35:16","slug":"confidentiality-and-google-translate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/11\/confidentiality-and-google-translate.html","title":{"rendered":"Confidentiality and Google Translate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ethical principles, rules and conventions distinguish socially acceptable behaviour from that which is considered socially unacceptable. However, in social science research a few workers consider their work beyond scrutiny, presumably guided by a disinterested virtue which justifies any means to attain hoped for ends.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ethical problems can relate to both the subject matter of the research as well as to its methods and procedures, and can go well beyond courtesy or etiquette regarding appropriate treatment of persons in a free society. Social scientists have often been criticized for lack of concern over the welfare of their subjects. The researcher often misinforms subjects about the nature of the investigation, and-or exposes them to embarrassing or emotionally painful experiences. [\u2026] It was found in a survey by the British Psychological Society that the two major areas of dilemma for members were confidentiality and research. Issues reported in this later area included unethical procedures, informed consent, harm to participants, deception, and deliberate falsification of results.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The above is from a textbook I used in my applied linguistics studies, \u201cIntroduction to Research Methods\u201d by Robert B. Burns. It is a very useful manual for those who wish to conduct research in education and in the social sciences. When I had to interview some subjects for my research, this book was my bible.<\/p>\n

I was recently talking to a fellow member of IAPTI about confidentiality issues in translation, and how disconcerting it is that many \u2013for the most part inexperienced\u2013 translators use online automatic translation tools such as Google Translate without knowing that they are breaching confidentiality between themselves and their clients. The concept of confidentiality between a translator and his client made me think of confidentiality between a researcher and his subject. I went back to my old textbook. Please humor me and reread the above quoted passage, replacing \u201csocial science\u201d with \u201ctranslation\u201d, \u201csocial scientist\u201d and \u201cresearcher\u201d with \u201ctranslator\u201d, \u201cinvestigation\u201d with \u201ctranslation method\u201d, and \u201csubject\u201d with \u201cclient\u201d. It would go something like this:<\/p>\n

Ethical principles, rules and conventions distinguish socially acceptable behaviour from that which is considered socially unacceptable. However, in translation a few translators consider their work beyond scrutiny, presumably guided by a disinterested virtue which justifies any means to attain hoped for ends.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ethical problems can relate to both the subject matter of the text as well as to the methods and procedures used to translate it, and can go well beyond courtesy or etiquette regarding appropriate treatment of persons in a free society. Translators have often been criticized for lack of concern over the welfare of their clients. The translator often misinforms clients about the nature of the translation method, and-or exposes them to embarrassing or emotionally painful experiences. [\u2026]\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at that last sentence for a minute: Does the translator misinform clients about the nature of the translation method? One might argue that the translator doesn\u2019t even discuss his translation method, he just agrees to do the translation. Well, we can play with words and use lawyers\u2019 tricks but if we really want to be honest with ourselves, the truth is that when we say \u201cI will do the translation\u201d we are telling the client that \u201cI <\/em>will do the translation\u201d; I, the translator. And before arguing that it\u2019s not necessarily what we mean, let\u2019s put ourselves in the client\u2019s shoes. What does the client understand when we say that, and what does he expect?<\/p>\n

The sentence mentions embarrassing or emotionally painful experiences. Does this apply to us? Let me give just a couple of examples from personal experience:<\/p>\n

Recently I translated some academic transcripts from Greek to English for a direct client, let\u2019s call him \u201cYannis\u201d. Along with the transcripts, I had to translate a long list of engineering course descriptions and a couple of cover letters. I had to rely on my own knowledge (I had taken many of those courses some years ago), on university websites, reliable engineering dictionaries, and my old textbooks. (Who would have thought that my 50000-lb thermodynamics book, also used as a very effective doorstopper, would come in handy after all these years?) What would have happened if I had used an online translation application, say Google Translate? If you think that a lousy translation is the only thing I would have gotten, think again. (And it would be lousy indeed! It turns out that before hiring me, Yannis had tried to do the translation himself, using Google Translate. I guess he didn\u2019t get very far, so he decided to hire a professional. When I sent him my translation he took a quick look and immediately wrote back to thank me and tell me that now he understood why professional translators are so indispensable. I wanted to give Yannis a virtual hug.) Anyway, let\u2019s say I had considered using Google Translate to do this job. First of all, I would have no right to put Yannis\u2019 transcripts on a public domain. If Yannis wanted to do so, that would be his right, those were his grades. I would have no right to share Yannis\u2019 grades with anyone, nor would I have the right to share his personal cover letter with people who are not the intended recipients. Maybe I could remove information that could be used to identify him\u2026 His name, address, title, affiliation, all the grades -I\u2019m sure I\u2019d miss something- maybe I should remove the name of the university as well, and the department, and the year of graduation, and the title of the degree. What\u2019s left? Right, the list of courses. But then, would Google really be able to give me a good translation of the description of that specialized course on the dynamics of Diesel engines or the one on welding and soldering techniques? What else would be left? The main body of the cover letters. Again, I have no right to share a letter written by someone other than me with people to whom it is not addressed. Plus if Yannis wanted the letters to be translated by Google, he could have done that himself. If Yannis ever decided to do an online search for some terms or sentences appearing in those cover letters, he might have found the entire text online. Talk about an embarrassing and emotionally painful experience! And of course he\u2019d feel cheated. And if he then mentioned it to me, the embarrassing experience would be all mine.\u00a0 Now is that the kind of relationship we want to build with our clients? Does the use of an online automatic translation tool reflect the respect and confidentiality that they deserve and consider a given when they hire us? Is that how we make sure they are satisfied and would hire us again or recommend us to others?<\/p>\n

Now if a simple document such as an academic transcript is confidential, think about medical records. Or press releases. Or private-meeting minutes.\u00a0 Or advertising campaigns. Or private correspondence. And yet there are translators who use Google Translate, oblivious to the fact that Google is not Mother Teresa, doing your translation for you asking for nothing in return, out of the goodness of its silicon little heart. \u201cI\u2019m doing this for the common good,\u201d you might say; \u201cif other translators ever need that information, they can find it easily online thanks to me\u201d. Well, the problem with this concept is that the data you are sharing is NOT yours to share!<\/p>\n

This brings us to a fundamental difference between the researcher-subject scenario (case A) and the translator-client scenario (case B): In case A, the study is conducted by the researcher, it is his own work from beginning to end; he chooses the topic, he designs the study, he collects and analyzes the data, and he is the one to present the work, for his own benefit (and in the long term for the benefit of the scientific community or perhaps society in general). In case B, the case that concerns us translators, we are given temporary access to work that is not ours. The topic of the document we are to translate, the content, the layout and the presentation all belong to the client, not to the translator, and they are to be used for the client\u2019s benefit. So if confidentiality is such an important concern in case A, think how important it is in case B, i.e. in translation.<\/p>\n

To the embarrassing or emotionally painful experiences, as mentioned by Burns, add \u201cprofessionally detrimental\u201d ones. Here\u2019s an example: I am often asked to translate research articles to be published in American scientific journals. Again, this is research<\/strong>, to be published<\/strong>. Sometimes these papers describe many years\u2019 worth of research. The authors have chosen specific journals through which to make their work known to the scientific community. They have not chosen Google\u2019s database, they have not chosen forums of online translation portals (where translators ask for term advice, and for context they give entire paragraphs that often include highly sensitive and confidential information), they have not chosen anything other than those journals, and it is those journals that will have copyright. Imagine how professionally detrimental it can be to an author of such a paper that describes his work if that paper \u2013whether in its entirety or partially- appears online before the author even has the chance to submit it for publication.<\/p>\n

In the same chapter about ethics, privacy, and confidentiality, Burns goes on to say:<\/p>\n

The right to privacy is an important right enshrined now in international (UN Declaration of Human Rights) and national legislation.[\u2026] Individuals should decide what aspects of their personal lives, attitudes, habits, eccentricities, fears and guilt are to be communicated to others.<\/em> [\u2026] This does not mean that personal and private behavior cannot be observed ethically; it can, provided that the subjects volunteer to participate with full knowledge of the purposes and procedures involved.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>
\nThe above applies to us as well. Our clients are the only ones who have the right to decide what aspects of their life or work are to be communicated to others, and they must have full knowledge of the procedures involved in the translation. If you plan to outsource the work or if you plan to use an online automatic translation tool or use any other method that might compromise privacy and confidentiality, you should tell your client and obtain his permission. If you are not telling your client because you think it doesn\u2019t concern him, based on the above you\u2019re wrong. If you\u2019re not telling him because you might think he won\u2019t hire you if you do, that means you are knowingly doing something wrong, i.e. you are aware that you are compromising privacy and confidentiality and still choose to proceed. You proceed until a client finds out and complains, or until a client takes legal action against you, or until the translators\u2019 association you belong to tells you that you have violated its code of ethics, or until you simply realize that professionalism in our field of work goes well beyond delivering a good translation.<\/p>\n

Ref:<\/em> Burns, R.B. (2000). Introduction to Research Methods<\/em>, 4th<\/sup> edition, Pearson Education Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ethical principles, rules and conventions distinguish socially acceptable behaviour from that which is considered socially unacceptable. However, in social science research a few workers consider their work beyond scrutiny, presumably guided by a disinterested virtue which justifies any means to attain hoped for ends. Ethical problems can relate to both the subject matter of the … Continue reading “Confidentiality and Google Translate”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[30,31,36,35,33,34,28,29,32],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-translation","tag-confidential-documents","tag-confidentiality","tag-human-translation","tag-machine-translation","tag-privacy","tag-professional-translation","tag-translation-ethics","tag-translation-memory","tag-transparency"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8iFRL-1b","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fresneltranslations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}