GDPR means no Google Translate?
Thread poster: Emily Gilby
Emily Gilby
Emily Gilby  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
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French to English
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Nov 19, 2018

Firstly, apologies if this is in the wrong group but I had no idea where to post it!

I'm currently reading a contract for an agency I applied for and was puzzled by something in the NDA. It says that in order to comply with GDPR, Google Translate can't be used during the translation process. I'm not an expert on GDPR so was wondering if anyone knew how Google Translate was non-compliant with it?


 
Thomas T. Frost
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Google Translate Nov 19, 2018

Content 'translated' by Google Translate is sent to Google's servers, so if you include personal data in such a request, you may be breaching the GDPR and NDAs.

Not using Google Translate for translation doesn't seem to be a big loss anyway.


Paulinho Fonseca
Peter van der Hoek
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Viviane Marx
 
Emily Gilby
Emily Gilby  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
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TOPIC STARTER
Makes sense Nov 19, 2018

Thank you Thomas, I was just curious, this makes sense

 
Mirko Mainardi
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General non-disclosure rather than GDPR, IMHO Nov 19, 2018

The GDPR basically protects personally identifiable data, so if there's no such data in the text you're machine translating, then no, I think you wouldn't be violating the GDPR by using MT, however, I also believe that using MT can still be considered a breach of most NDAs, as what passes through the MT service provider's servers (and might remain stored there) could be generally considered "Confidential Information" in and of itself...

Paulinho Fonseca
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Samuel Murray
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@Emily Nov 19, 2018

Emily Scott wrote:
I'm currently reading a contract for an agency I applied for and was puzzled by something in the NDA. It says that in order to comply with GDPR, Google Translate can't be used during the translation process.


What an odd thing to say. It is my understanding that the paid version of Google Translate is GDPR compliant. Also, I agree with Mirko -- GDPR relates to personally identifiable information only.

GDPR does not relate to confidential company information. Sharing confidential company information with a third party which uses it in contravention of an NDA (e.g. the free Google Translate) would breach the NDA, but that has nothing to do with the GDPR. Unlike the free version of Google Translate, the paid version does not use your uploaded data for machine training purposes or share it with anyone else, and using it does not breach confidentiality any more than using any other online service in connection with the data.


Claudia Cherici
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finnword1
finnword1
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"used" in what way? Nov 19, 2018

"Google Translate can't be used during the translation". Probably written by a lawyer who has no clue of what MT can do. I usually have it running in the background, depending on the subject. I may "use" it as a dictionary reference or otherwise. I can always change the names and other identifying information in the source text before importing it into my translation tool. That should take care of confidentiality.

Anna Sarapuk
 
Daniel Frisano
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Italy
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Off topic Nov 19, 2018

Has it ever occurred to anyone that using MT involves plagiarizing someone else's work?

 
Anton Konashenok
Anton Konashenok  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
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French to English
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Using MT - whose MT is it? Nov 19, 2018

Daniel Frisano wrote:

Has it ever occurred to anyone that using MT involves plagiarizing someone else's work?


Using one's own MT obviously does not. Using someone else's MT can first and foremost be compared with using someone else's toothbrush - that is, you never know what kind of nasty things you can inadvertently get from it (unless the two of you have already been sharing bodily fluids/translation work).

[Edited at 2018-11-19 23:40 GMT]


Jorge Payan
 
Stepan Konev
Stepan Konev  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 08:54
English to Russian
@Anton Konashenok Nov 20, 2018

You mistake MT for TM. Google translate cannot be someone's or yours.
===
Speaking of 'no big loss anyway', here is an example of Google translation from English into Russian:

Source: Compliance with this procedure allows us to minimize the adverse effects of wastes on the environment.
Target: Соблюдение этой процедуры позволяет свести к минимуму неблагоприятное воздействие отходов на
... See more
You mistake MT for TM. Google translate cannot be someone's or yours.
===
Speaking of 'no big loss anyway', here is an example of Google translation from English into Russian:

Source: Compliance with this procedure allows us to minimize the adverse effects of wastes on the environment.
Target: Соблюдение этой процедуры позволяет свести к минимуму неблагоприятное воздействие отходов на окружающую среду.

Anton Konashenok can keep honest, this machine translation does not need any edits.
Definitely, this happens not as often as I would like, but good things still happen too.
Collapse


 
Anton Konashenok
Anton Konashenok  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 06:54
French to English
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Oops Nov 20, 2018

Stepan, you are right, my fault, I meant TM indeed.
As to your example of MT, your source phrase looks like a translation from Russian, this is why it was translated well. A native speaker of English would not write it this way.


 
Stepan Konev
Stepan Konev  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 08:54
English to Russian
Maybe so Nov 20, 2018

However, with globalization rate these days, 90% of 'translatables' are written in any version of ...lish but not the original English.

 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 06:54
Member
English to Italian
Sharing vs. Sharing and using Nov 20, 2018

Samuel Murray wrote:

Sharing confidential company information with a third party which uses it in contravention of an NDA (e.g. the free Google Translate) would breach the NDA, but that has nothing to do with the GDPR. Unlike the free version of Google Translate, the paid version does not use your uploaded data for machine training purposes or share it with anyone else, and using it does not breach confidentiality any more than using any other online service in connection with the data.


I disagree. I have never read an NDA that stipulates how a third party may or may not use the Confidential Information. All of them simply stated you cannot disclose it to any third party (except if required by a court order, etc. and even then notifying the Disclosing Party ASAP).

So, the moment you send the Confidential Information to Google, store it on Dropbox, use an online OCR service, etc. you're technically in breach of most NDAs (I've seen), regardless of what the companies that operate those services are going to do or not do with that data.


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GDPR means no Google Translate?







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