2015年下半年，大眾汽車的排放丑聞轟動一時。通過在汽車中安裝一款軟件，大眾汽車在美國監管部門實施的排放檢測中造假，額外排放了累計近100萬噸空氣污染物。

如今，監管機構、立法者和其他人都在思考一個問題——如何避免這類丑聞再次發生？其中，開源軟件是許多人建議的解決方案之一。另一種方法是隨機抽驗。

但我認為，這兩種方法均屬于兩個更大的趨勢——物聯網和創客文化的發展。唯有將這兩種趨勢結合在一起，才能有效防止此類事件。物聯網，以及連接到云且彼此互連的數據采集傳感器日漸普及。此外，越來越多的人愿意通過創造自己的設備檢測周圍的世界。這些趨勢最終將創造出一個始終處在監督之下的環境。

深受創客喜愛的樹莓派（Raspberry Pi）電腦的創造者埃本?厄普頓表示：“以前，可能只有100個人擁有某種能夠檢測大眾汽車排放量的工具，現在，我們似乎已經度過了低谷期，有無數人擁有能夠監測這些數據的工具。這不僅要歸功于可用的工具增多，也得益于科技文化的變化。”

厄普頓解釋稱，人們愿意利用科技，通過廉價的傳感器進行實驗，以檢驗企業所說的話是否真實。一兩美元的傳感器和普遍的懷疑精神，培養出這樣一群人——他們愿意創建工具，驗證周圍的空氣質量是否如環境保護局所說的那樣。而且，厄普頓表示，隨著一些公司將這類工具商業化，普通消費者進行這類測試只會變得更加容易。

他認為環保團體將引領這一趨勢。

目前已經有一些項目試圖通過使用志愿者配戴的空氣質量傳感器，跟蹤城市的空氣質量，比如AirCast。這些傳感器可以實時監測排放量的變化，這意味著它們能夠鎖定污染更嚴重的汽車。在數據公開之后，大眾汽車車主可能會看到這些數據，并懷疑為什么他們的汽車會產生如此嚴重的污染，但這家公司卻在宣揚自家的汽車是多么清潔，他們隨后就會親自檢測。

或者，你可以花240美元購買一臺“空氣質量蛋”，監測一氧化碳與一氧化二氮的濃度，并通過互聯網加入全球空氣質量監測網絡。環保機構公布數據，允許人們將這些數據與其他數據結合，生成關聯性，幫助發現高污染區域。甚至在大西洋中也有一臺空氣質量蛋。

Volkswagen is still reeling from the revelations that it lied to U.S. regulators and pumped nearly 1 million tons of extra pollutants into the air by installing software onto its cars to fool emissions tests. Now regulators, legislators and others are wondering how to prevent such a scandal from happening again. Open source software has been a suggested salve. So has random testing.

But I think these are part of two bigger trends that will come together to prevent these sort of shenanigans going forward—the Internet of things and the development of a maker culture. The Internet of things and its proliferation of data gathering sensors that are connected to the cloud and to each other combined with an increasing number of people who are comfortable building their own gear to experiment with the world around them will create an environment of constant scrutiny.

“It seems like we’ve gone through this trough where only 100 people in the world have the tools to test something like the Volkswagen emissions, to having a limitless number of people having the tool to detect this,” said Eben Upton, the creator of the Raspberry Pi computer, which is a computer beloved by makers. “But it’s not just that the tools are available, but that the tech culture has changed.”

Upton explained that people are willing to play with technology and experiment with cheap sensors to see if what they are being told is true. The combination of $1 or $2 sensors and a general skepticism has led a class of people to build tools to see if their air quality is really what the EPA is telling them. And, said Upton, as the tools are commercialized through companies, that ability to test will only get easier for the average consumer.

He thinks environmental groups will lead the charge.

Already there are projects such as AirCast that are trying to track air quality around cities using air quality sensors worn by volunteers. These sensors can detect changes in emissions in real time, which means they could pick up cars that pollute more often. Since that data is made public, someone who owns a Volkswagen might see the data and wonder why their car seems to be so dirty on the road when the company touts how clean it is and perform their own tests.

Or you can buy an Air Quality Egg for $240 that measures carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide and become part of a worldwide air quality monitoring effort linked over the Internet. The group shares the data, and allows people to combine it with other information to make correlations that could help detect areas of high pollution. There’s even an Air Quality Egg in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

但你還需要確定一批違反規定的大眾汽車與高于預期的污染水平之間的關聯性。不過，隨著數據分析成本和難度不斷降低，這并非遙不可及的目標。

此外，有一些業余愛好者和粉絲就是單純地喜歡實驗，而這正是創客文化和黑客文化的一部分。例如，我有一臺設備可以測量家里每一條線路的用電量，而且我喜歡測量每臺設備的實際用電量，與制造商宣稱的耗電量之間的差異。我甚至希望像這些人一樣，將這臺設備顯示的新特斯拉汽車充電所消耗的電量與汽車上顯示的用電量進行對比。

這種趨勢不僅限于電力。當前已有數十家初創公司推出了測量室內或室外空氣質量的設備。Tzoa正在嘗試讓消費者帶上傳感器，測量室外空氣質量，其他的初創公司，如Canary、Birdi、Withings Home Video Camera和Cube Sensors等，均推出了旨在保證室內空氣質量安全的產品。很顯然，并非只有黑客才能了解我們的環境狀況。

隨著廉價且互連的傳感器的普及，創客文化和實驗精神的擴展，民間團體逐漸接受這兩種文化，并開始對我們周圍的世界進行檢測，未來將有越來越多的消費者掌握必要的工具，從而識破公司的謊言。破壞環境的企業會發現，它們將面臨棘手的困境。（財富中文網）

譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

審校：任文科

Again, you’d need to make correlations between a cluster of offending Volkswagens and higher-than-expected pollution levels. However, in today’s era of cheap and easy data analysis such a thing isn’t too far fetched.

There are also hobbyists and fans who simply like to experiment, which is part of the maker and hacker culture. For example, I have a device that measures electricity usage in my home on each circuit, and I love measuring how much each device actually consumes compared to what it might say it does. I’m even eager to compare how much electricity I use charging my new Tesla based on what that device says as compared to my car, much like this person has.

It’s not just electricity. There are dozens of startups out there with devices trying to measure indoor or outdoor air quality. Tzoa is trying to get consumers to strap on a sensor to measure outdoor air quality, while other startups such as Canary, Birdi, Withings Home video camera, and Cube Sensors all have products aimed at ensuring the indoor air quality is safe. Clearly, hackers aren’t the only ones being empowered to understand what’s happening in their environment.

So, as cheap, connected sensors proliferate, a culture of making and experimenting expands, and civic groups embrace both attributes to start testing the world around them, more consumers will have the tools they need to tell if companies are lying. For those who are damaging the environment, they could find themselves having some sticky conversations.