Secure Alternatives to Google Translate for Confidential/Private Information Thread poster: Rose700
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Hello. I like the features of Google Translate (https://translate.google.ca/), but it is not secure enough for confidential information. Do you know of any good software/app/device alternatives to Google Translate that can keep confidential information secure?
Features that I like about Google Translate:
- It's easy to use.
- I can type/paste text into it that I want to get tra... See more Hello. I like the features of Google Translate (https://translate.google.ca/), but it is not secure enough for confidential information. Do you know of any good software/app/device alternatives to Google Translate that can keep confidential information secure?
Features that I like about Google Translate:
- It's easy to use.
- I can type/paste text into it that I want to get translated.
- It can do transcriptions / audio-to-text (it's "translate by voice" button).
- It can do text-to-speech (it's "listen" button).
- Google can record what you're saying and instantly transcribe and translate it. You don't have to record audio separately and then upload an audio (mp3) file into Google.
- It can be used for many different languages.
- It can detect the language of text.
- I can copy the text in Google Translate and paste it into another location.
It would be great if the software/app/device was good with medical terminology.
It may be tough to find a software/app/device with all of these features. Ideally, the software/app/device should have good security features and it should at least be able to do transcriptions and translations.
Thank you! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Andriy Yasharov 
Ukraine
Local time: 22:02
Member (2008)
English to Russian
+ ...
| | Never secure | Feb 24, 2021 |
All translation software programs use all input to improve their systems, and regardless of whether or not they transmit this information to others, it is still processed by their systems, effectively making them data processors within the meaning of the GDPR.
In essence, you would need permission from each client prior to starting any translation for using a third party as a data processor, which, in turn, would require a separate data processing agreement for each assignment.
... See more All translation software programs use all input to improve their systems, and regardless of whether or not they transmit this information to others, it is still processed by their systems, effectively making them data processors within the meaning of the GDPR.
In essence, you would need permission from each client prior to starting any translation for using a third party as a data processor, which, in turn, would require a separate data processing agreement for each assignment.
Why don't you try doing it the good old fashioned way, using your brain to think and your fingers to type? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:02
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Client decides | Feb 24, 2021 |
123Translations wrote:
Why don't you try doing it the good old fashioned way, using your brain to think and your fingers to type?
I'm not necessarily against machine translation, but confidentiality is a key issue. Given the cloud that still lies over the way MT providers use (or don't use) data, you'd need to be sure clients were happy for you to use it, as in, get their explicit permission.
Dan
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| I never use Google translate for professional purposes | Feb 24, 2021 |
When I started translating, there was no such thing as Google Translate, and any form of machine translation was useless in practice. I never use it for professional purposes, but I do occasionally use it for my own purposes to translate from languages I cannot understand.
I personally would never trust machine translation for medical work, although I do use a CAT tool to keep track of repetitions, terminology and so on. But everything in it is originally human translation, either ... See more When I started translating, there was no such thing as Google Translate, and any form of machine translation was useless in practice. I never use it for professional purposes, but I do occasionally use it for my own purposes to translate from languages I cannot understand.
I personally would never trust machine translation for medical work, although I do use a CAT tool to keep track of repetitions, terminology and so on. But everything in it is originally human translation, either mine or from Translation Memory extracts I have received from reliable human colleagues. I work offline, and do not use a cloud connection.
Translation engines are all trained using human translation (which is why Google Translate is not secure - it collects material to improve its output).
The service a professional translator provides and is paid for is the human understanding of the source text and certainty that the meaning is the same in the source text - as far as possible for humans!
Quite apart from security, machines cannot provide the same accuracy as a trained human.
For example, in my language pair there are more gender-neutral pronouns in the source text, and it takes a human to know when to use he or she in the translation when appropriate, or which of several options to use in English to keep it gender neutral.
There are hundreds of issues like that between languages, which machine translation cannot handle reliably.
Clients can run a text through Google Translate themselves if they want to risk it, or if the text is not confidential.
I do not oppose translation technology, and I use translation memory software most of the time, but for security reasons I use it offline, with no cloud conection, and I have other security measures in place.
Not least the codes of conduct I have signed, and which colleagues have signed, if occasionally I ask for help or try to help others.
[Edited at 2021-02-24 12:59 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:02
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Just another tool | Feb 24, 2021 |
Christine Andersen wrote:
Clients can run a text through Google Translate themselves ...
That may be true, however, any tool is only as useful as the person using it, and to a professional translator nowadays, MT is just another tool in the arsenal.
For example, I certainly don't just "run a text through Google translate"... In my usual modus operandi, I go through the source text segment by segment, occasionally using MT to check and compare phrasing and vocabulary, and then go over the final draft to check for any movements or things that need tweaking. MT can be very helpful if used judiciously.
Having said that, I've never tried using MT on poetry or literary or artistic texts, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be much use there, although I seldom work in these areas anyway.
| | | | | Local desktop MT | Feb 24, 2021 |
Rose700 wrote:
It may be tough to find a software/app/device with all of these features.
Hi Rose700,
It's nice ad text on GT. Each MT provider collect data. You can choose which data to which provider.
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I have been using BasicCAT for more than a month. The author provides the following information about MT:
https://basiccat-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/advancedFeatures.html#id2
BasicCAT has a built-in support for 12 machine translation services:
Baidu
Google
Microsoft Bing
Niutrans
Youdao
Yandex
MyMemory
Sogou
Sogou DeepI
Tencent Cloud
IBM Watson
Amazon
Offline Machine Translation, Sep 13, 2020
https://www.basiccat.org/offline-machine-translation/
Fiskmo is a windows client with marian nmt as its backend. The translation prediction speed and its quality is fairly good.
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I am Slate Desktop user. This is also local Windows SW, but MT is statistical. In results are only words from "my" TMX loaded as input. For more
https://www.slate.rocks/
or
Build engine en-cs-EPREP
http://www.condak.cz/nove/2020-01/09/cs/00.html
Milan
PS: I downloaded BasicCAT version 1.10.2: there are now support of 19 online MT
baidu, yandex, youdao, google, microsoft, mymemory, ali, ali-ecommerce, amazon, cloudtranslation, colorfulclouds, googlewithoutapikey, niutrans, papago, sogouDeepI, sogou
tencent, watson, web
One local desktop: fiskmo
[Edited at 2021-02-24 18:22 GMT]
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 21:02
German to Swedish
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Dan Lucas wrote:
(...) but confidentiality is a key issue. Given the cloud that still lies over the way MT providers use (or don't use) data, you'd need to be sure clients were happy for you to use it, as in, get their explicit permission.
Exactly. It doesn't really matter how "secure" a cloud service claims to be.
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Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 21:02
German to Swedish
+ ...
| End clients' view | Feb 24, 2021 |
Milan Condak wrote:
BasicCAT has a built-in support for 12 machine translation services:
Baidu
Google
Microsoft Bing
Niutrans
Youdao
Yandex
MyMemory
Sogou
Sogou DeepI
Tencent Cloud
IBM Watson
Amazon
Some end clients might not appreciate their data going through a tool that supports a bunch of Chinese and Russian MT services.
(Note that I'm not saying there's anything wrong with BasicCAT.)
| | | | Anna Kiefer
Germany
Local time: 21:02
English to German
+ ...
| Medical terminology | Feb 24, 2021 |
Hi,
you asked for a software that "can keep confidential information secure" and is "good with medical terminology." These requirements are mutually exclusive. As translator specialised in medical texts and nurse, I can state very clearly: Don't trust in machine translation when it comes to medical texts. It can be dangerous, really. It would be better to ask a professional translator/colleague. A human translator is able to recognize e.g. mistakes, typing errors etc. in the source ... See more Hi,
you asked for a software that "can keep confidential information secure" and is "good with medical terminology." These requirements are mutually exclusive. As translator specialised in medical texts and nurse, I can state very clearly: Don't trust in machine translation when it comes to medical texts. It can be dangerous, really. It would be better to ask a professional translator/colleague. A human translator is able to recognize e.g. mistakes, typing errors etc. in the source text. A machine is not. A machine wouldn't notice if there is a word missing because the physician who wrote e.g. the report had been under enormous stress and interpret a wrong sentence in a completely misleading way. Sometimes, the software even turns special characters into numbers, which is disastrous if you would e.g. try to translate laboratory findings. And, moreover, a human translator has a vested interest to be trustworthy - the machine - in the best case - doesn't care what is happening to your private data.
Best regards,
Anna ▲ Collapse
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