當(dāng)智能家居成為家暴“幫兇”

SAN FRANCISCO — The people who called into the help hotlines and domestic violence shelters said they felt as if they were going crazy.

舊金山——給幫助熱線和家庭暴力受害者收容所打電話的人表示，她們覺得自己要瘋了。

One woman had turned on her air-conditioner but said it then switched off without her touching it. Another said the code numbers of the digital lock at her front door changed every day and she could not figure out why. Still another told an abuse help line she kept hearing the doorbell ring, but no one was there.

一個女人打開空調(diào)，但說它自己關(guān)掉了，而她根本沒碰過空調(diào)。另一人說她家前門電子鎖的密碼每天都會變，她搞不明白為什么會這樣。還有人告訴一條家暴幫助熱線說，她聽到門鈴響，但門口根本沒人。

Their stories are part of a new pattern of behavior in domestic abuse cases tied to the rise of smart home technology. Internet-connected locks, speakers, thermostats, lights and cameras marketed as the newest conveniences are now also being used as a means for harassment, monitoring, revenge and control.

她們的故事是家庭暴力案件里一種新型行為的一部分，這種行為與智能家居技術(shù)的崛起有關(guān)。聯(lián)網(wǎng)門鎖、音箱、溫度調(diào)節(jié)裝置、燈以及攝像頭被宣傳為給人們提供便利的最新設(shè)備，如今它們也被用作騷擾、監(jiān)視、報復(fù)和控制的手段。

In more than 30 interviews with The New York Times, domestic abuse victims, their lawyers, shelter workers and emergency responders described how the technology was becoming an alarming new tool. Abusers — using apps on their smartphones, which are connected to the internet-enabled devices — would remotely control everyday objects in the home, sometimes to watch and listen, other times to scare or show power. Even after a partner had left the home, the devices often stayed and continued to be used to intimidate and confuse.

在《紐約時報》進行的30多次采訪中，家庭暴力受害者、她們的律師、收容所工作人員及急救人員描述了這類科技是如何成為一種令人擔(dān)憂的新工具的。智能手機上的應(yīng)用程序能夠連接這些通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)控制的設(shè)備，施暴者遠(yuǎn)程控制家中的日常物件，他們有時候是為了觀看或收聽家里的情況，其他時候是為了恫嚇或顯示威力。即使是在伴侶離開家中之后，這些設(shè)備也常常留在家中，繼續(xù)達到嚇唬和迷惑的目的。

For victims and emergency responders, the experiences were often aggravated by a lack of knowledge about how smart technology works, how much power the other person had over the devices, how to legally deal with the behavior and how to make it stop.

對于受害者和救援人員來說，缺乏對智能科技運作原理、另一個人對這些設(shè)備的控制程度有多深、如何合法應(yīng)對這種行為，以及如何阻止這種行為的了解，往往使這種經(jīng)歷惡化。

“People have started to raise their hands in trainings and ask what to do about this,” Erica Olsen, director of the Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence, said of sessions she holds about technology and abuse. She said she was wary of discussing the misuse of emerging technologies because “we don’t want to introduce the idea to the world, but now that it’s become so prevalent, the cat’s out of the bag.”

“人們開始在培訓(xùn)中舉手詢問該怎么應(yīng)對這種情況，”終結(jié)家庭暴力全國網(wǎng)絡(luò)(National Network to End Domestic Violence)安全網(wǎng)項目(Safety Net Project)主管艾麗卡·奧爾森(Erica Olsen)提到她舉辦的關(guān)于科技和虐待的會議時說。她說對于不當(dāng)使用這些新興科技的討論，她感到很擔(dān)心，因為“我們不想向全世界介紹這種概念，但如今它已經(jīng)變得如此常見，已經(jīng)是眾所周知的現(xiàn)象了”。

Some of tech’s biggest companies make smart home products, such as Amazon with its Echo speaker and Alphabet’s Nest smart thermostat. The devices are typically positioned as helpful life companions, including when people are at work or on vacation and want to remotely supervise their homes.

科技行業(yè)一些最大的公司都在生產(chǎn)智能家居商品，例如亞馬遜(Amazon)的Echo音箱，以及Alphabet的Nest智能溫控器。這些設(shè)備通常被作為有用的生活伙伴，用處包括當(dāng)人們上班或度假期間，想要遠(yuǎn)程監(jiān)控家里的時候。

Connected home devices have increasingly cropped up in domestic abuse cases over the past year, according to those working with victims of domestic violence. Those at help lines said more people were calling in the last 12 months about losing control of Wi-Fi-enabled doors, speakers, thermostats, lights and cameras. Lawyers also said they were wrangling with how to add language to restraining orders to cover smart home technology.

據(jù)幫助家庭暴力受害者的工作人員表示，過去一年里，聯(lián)網(wǎng)的家居設(shè)備在家庭暴力案件中突然出現(xiàn)增長。那些在幫助熱線工作的人士表示，過去12個月里，有越來越多人打來電話，內(nèi)容是關(guān)于由無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)控制的門鎖、音箱、溫度控制器、燈和攝像頭失控的。律師們也表示，他們正在就如何在禁制令中增加涵蓋智能家居科技的措辭爭吵不休。

Muneerah Budhwani, who takes calls at the National Domestic Violence Hotline, said she started hearing stories about smart homes in abuse situations last winter. “Callers have said the abusers were monitoring and controlling them remotely through the smart home appliances and the smart home system,” she said.

在全國家庭暴力熱線(National Domestic Violence Hotline)接聽電話的穆妮拉·布瓦尼(Muneerah Budhwani)表示，去年冬天時，她開始聽到與智能家居有關(guān)的虐待故事。“打來電話的人說，虐待她們的人通過智能家居設(shè)備和智能家居系統(tǒng)，遠(yuǎn)程監(jiān)視、控制她們，”她說。

Graciela Rodriguez, who runs a 30-bed emergency shelter at the Center for Domestic Peace in San Rafael, California, said some people had recently come in with tales of “the crazy-making things” like thermostats suddenly kicking up to 100 degrees or smart speakers turning on blasting music.

格拉謝拉·羅德里格斯(Graciela Rodriguez)在加州圣拉斐爾家庭和平中心(Center for Domestic Peace)掌管一個有30張床位的應(yīng)急收容所，她說，近期一些住進來的人提到了“讓人發(fā)瘋的東西”，比如溫度控制器突然調(diào)高到了100華氏度，或是智能音箱開始播放震天響的音樂。

“They feel like they’re losing control of their home,” she said. “After they spend a few days here, they realize they were being abused.”

“她們覺得正在失去對家里的控制，”她說。“在這里待了幾天后，她們意識到自己是受到了家庭暴力。”

Smart home technology can be easily harnessed for misuse for several reasons. Tools like connected in-home security cameras are relatively inexpensive — some retail for $40 — and are straightforward to install. Usually, one person in a relationship takes charge of putting in the technology, knows how it works and has all the passwords. This gives that person the power to turn the technology against the other person.

智能家居科技很容易成為不當(dāng)使用的工具，而人們這么做的原因多種多樣。像家中聯(lián)網(wǎng)的安全攝像頭這樣工具的價格較為適中——一些攝像頭的零售價為40美元——而且安裝容易。通常，處在一段關(guān)系中的一方會負(fù)責(zé)給家里裝上這些科技產(chǎn)品，這個人知道這些設(shè)備如何運作，也擁有全部密碼。這會讓這個人擁有利用這些科技針對另一方的能力。

Emergency responders said many victims of smart home-enabled abuse were women.

應(yīng)急人員表示，智能家居虐待的受害者多為女性。

Connected home gadgets are largely installed by men, said Melissa Gregg, a research director at Intel working on the implications of smart home technology. Many women also do not have all the apps on their phones, said Jenny Kennedy, a postdoctoral research fellow at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, who is researching families that install smart home technology.

在英特爾(Intel)研究智能家居科技影響的研究總監(jiān)梅麗莎·格雷格(Melissa Gregg)表示，互聯(lián)家庭設(shè)備的安裝者以男性居多。澳大利亞墨爾本皇家理工大學(xué)(RMIT University)博士后研究員詹寧·肯尼迪(Jenny Kennedy)表示，許多女性并未在自己的手機上安裝所需應(yīng)用?？夏岬险趯Π惭b了智能家居科技的家庭進行研究。

(One in three women and one in four men have been victims of physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner, according to a 2010 Centers for Disease Control report.)

(根據(jù)美國疾病控制中心2010年發(fā)布的報告，每三名女性或每四名男性之中就有一名是肢體暴力的受害者，或曾受親密伴侶的騷擾。)

The people who spoke to The Times about being harassed through smart home gadgetry were all women, many from wealthy enclaves where this type of technology has taken off. They declined to publicly use their names, citing safety and because some were in the process of leaving their abusers. Their stories were corroborated by domestic violence workers and lawyers who handled their cases.

向時報報告了有關(guān)被人通過智能家居設(shè)備騷擾案例的均為女性，她們大多來自此類科技盛行的富裕地區(qū)。她們以安全為由拒絕公開姓名，且一部分人正在擺脫各自的施暴者。她們的說法得到了家暴工作人員和案件經(jīng)手律師的證實。

Each said the use of internet-connected devices by their abusers was invasive — one called it a form of “jungle warfare” because it was hard to know where the attacks were coming from. They also described it as an asymmetry of power because their partners had control over the technology — and by extension, over them.

所有人都表示，施暴者對連網(wǎng)設(shè)備的使用都是入侵性的——有人稱之為一種“叢林戰(zhàn)”形式，因為難以了解攻擊者在何處。她們還將其稱為權(quán)力不對稱，因為另一方擁有技術(shù)的掌控權(quán)——進而擴展為對她們的掌控。

One of the women, a doctor in Silicon Valley, said her husband, an engineer, “controls the thermostat. He controls the lights. He controls the music.” She said, “Abusive relationships are about power and control, and he uses technology.”

其中一位女性是硅谷的醫(yī)生，她表示，自己的工程師丈夫“控制溫度，控制燈光，控制音樂”。她說：“虐待關(guān)系重點是權(quán)力和控制，而他用的是科技。”

She said she did not know how all of the technology worked or exactly how to remove her husband from the accounts. But she said she dreamed about retaking the technology soon.

她表示，她不清楚這些技術(shù)如何工作，或者如何移除丈夫的賬號。但她說，她夢想著能奪回技術(shù)控制權(quán)。

“I have a specific exit plan that I’m in the process of implementing, and one of my fantasies is to be able to say, ‘OK Google, play whatever music I want,'” she said. Her plan with the smart thermostat, she said, was to “pull it out of the wall.”

“我有一個正在實施的特別退出計劃，我的一個夢想就是能夠說，‘好，Google，播放我想聽的音樂’，”她說。她表示，她對智能溫控器的處理辦法就是，“把它從墻上拔出來”。

When a victim uninstalls the devices, this can escalate a conflict, experts said. “The abuser can see it’s disabled, and that may trigger enhanced violence,” said Jennifer Becker, a lawyer at Legal Momentum, a women’s rights legal advocacy group.

專家表示，當(dāng)受害者卸除設(shè)備時，沖突可能會加劇。“施暴者可以看見設(shè)備被拆除，這可能會使暴力升級，”女權(quán)法律倡導(dǎo)組織法律動力(Legal Momentum)的律師詹妮弗·貝克(Jennifer Becker)說。

Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said disabling the devices could also further cut off a victim. “They’re not sure how their abuser is getting in and they’re not necessarily able to figure it out because they don’t know how the systems work,” Galperin said. “What they do is they just turn everything off, and that just further isolates them.”

數(shù)字權(quán)益團體電子前沿基金會(Electronic Frontier Foundation)網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全主管伊娃·加爾佩林(Eva Galperin)表示，關(guān)閉這些設(shè)備還可能會使受害者進一步遭到隔絕。“她們不確定施暴者是如何登入設(shè)備的，也不一定能研究明白，因為她們不知道這些系統(tǒng)是如何運作的，”加爾佩林說。“她們做的只是將所有設(shè)備關(guān)機，而這只會進一步孤立自己。”

Legal recourse may be limited. Abusers have learned to use smart home technology to further their power and control in ways that often fall outside existing criminal laws, Becker said. In some cases, she said, if an abuser circulates video taken by a connected indoor security camera, it could violate some states’ revenge porn laws, which aim to stop a former partner from sharing intimate photographs and videos online.

相關(guān)法律手段也十分有限。貝克表示，施暴者已經(jīng)了解如何使用智能家居科技來拓展他們的權(quán)力，而他們的掌控方式往往處于現(xiàn)有的刑法范圍之外。她表示，在某些情況下，如果施暴者傳播室內(nèi)聯(lián)網(wǎng)安全監(jiān)控錄下的視頻，可能會觸犯部分州的色情報復(fù)法律，該法律旨在阻止前任在網(wǎng)上分享親密照片及視頻。

Advocates are beginning to educate emergency responders that when people get restraining orders, they need to ask the judge to include all smart home device accounts known and unknown to victims. Many people do not know to ask about this yet, Becker said. But even if people get restraining orders, remotely changing the temperature in a house or suddenly turning on the TV or lights may not contravene a no-contact order, she said.

倡導(dǎo)者已開始教育應(yīng)急人員，當(dāng)人們在申請限制令時，他們需要要求法官將受害者已知或未知的一切智能家居設(shè)備賬戶包括在內(nèi)。貝克表示，許多人還不知道如何提出這一要求。她說，即使人們得到了限制令，遙控改變房內(nèi)溫度或突然打開電視或電燈，可能也并不違反禁止接觸令。

Several law enforcement officials said the technology was too new to have shown up in their cases, although they suspected the activity was occurring.

多名執(zhí)法官員表示，這些科技太過新穎，他們還未接到過相關(guān)案例，不過他們懷疑類似活動確有發(fā)生。

“I’m sure that it’s happening,” said Zach Perron, a captain in the police department in Palo Alto, California. “It makes complete sense knowing what I know about the psychology of domestic violence suspects. Domestic violence is largely about control — people think of physical violence but there’s emotional violence, too.”

“我確信這是正在發(fā)生的事情，”加州帕洛阿爾托的警局副巡長扎克·佩倫(Zach Perron)說。“據(jù)我對家暴活動嫌疑人心理特征的了解，這完全說得通。家庭暴力主要事關(guān)控制——人們認(rèn)為是肢體暴力，但還有感情暴力。”