Difference between free machine translation like Google and paid machine translation ②

Last time, we introduced the first of the three major differences between "free machine translation services like Google Translate and paid machine translation engines", which is customization.

・Customization
・Security
・Cost

This time, let's take a look at the remaining "Security" and "Cost".

Engine security

The second point is "Security".
When using free translation services, the most important thing to be cautious about may be this security issue.

In the case of commercial engines, for example, if it is a cloud-based type, it may be necessary to sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) at the time of contract, specifying that the translated documents will not be repurposed for other purposes and that the corpus will not be shared.
Also, if it is an "on-premise" type installed in a local environment, there is no need to connect to the internet, so the risk of information leaking over the internet is quite low.

On the other hand, in the case of free engines, it is mostly the case that there is no
confidentiality agreement established between the engine provider and the user/company.
Therefore, the translated data may be used by companies providing machine translation services.

Some of you may remember that there was news about a "data leak from a free machine translation service, which included emails from government agencies and banks."

In this way, information translated using free machine translation services may be at risk of leaking externally, so it is not suitable for translating highly confidential documents or emails.

Engine Cost

The third point is "Cost".
When introducing machine translation, the most concerning factor for everyone may indeed be the cost.

Paid translation engines can be used with more confidence in terms of quality and security compared to free machine translation services, but they come with implementation and operational costs.
Costs vary depending on the engine and type, but implementation can require tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yen, so it is essential to carefully assess whether the benefits of implementing them outweigh the costs before making a decision.

In conclusion, we have introduced the differences between free machine translation services and paid machine translation engines in two parts.

Documents such as internal documents and user manuals, which require high confidentiality and accuracy of quality are recommended to use paid machine translation engines.

When using free machine translation services for internal documents and user manuals, it is important to check the quality in advance and to effectively utilize them by distinguishing important information, such as "cautions for use," which should be translated by a human.

How to use Google Translate safely?

At Human Science, we provide business use of Google Translate in a secure cloud environment.
We offer the automatic translation software MTrans Team.
We provide databases for companies and users, and the cloud server is AWS (Amazon). Options such as IP restrictions, private clouds, and dedicated servers are also available.

To play the video, you need a browser that supports the video tag.

A 14-day free trial is currently available. Please feel free to apply.

Free Download

What will happen to the risk of information leakage?
The security situation of machine translation

MTrans Team 14-day free trial

The MTrans Team, an automatic translation tool and software, supports 27 languages. It features an intuitive interface that requires no explanation and can be used immediately. As long as you have an internet connection, all staff can easily use MTrans from anywhere, whether domestically or internationally. With terminology and phrase features, when you register phrases, the AI equipped with MTrans learns. It becomes "smarter the more you use it" with AI and translation memory.

Click here to apply

Blog Writing Manager

Tokuda Megumi

・As a machine translation consultant, I provide consulting for the introduction of machine translation and process development for Japanese companies.
・I emphasize the quality of source texts that influence multilingual translation and also conduct consulting for creating manuals suitable for machine translation in the Japanese writing process.
・Since 2013, I have spoken at numerous domestic and international events.
– 2014, Translation Automation Users Society "Possibilities of Utilizing Japanese MT Engines in Industrial Translation"
– 2018, General Incorporated Foundation Technical Communicators Association Symposium "Learning from 10 Case Studies! - Challenges and Solutions for Implementing Machine Translation"