Demanding companies should provide backdoor access to government departments violates consumer trust and potentially could lead to a decline in users of these companies’ products or services.
Donald Trump’s startling victory has left us thinking about what the future holds for US tech policy. US tech policy will affect European and British tech policy.
These are our thoughts on three key issues:
Changes to encryption
Technology companies may well be forced to change current encryption policy and agree to provide backdoor access to US government departments. Trump was a supporter of the court order that called for Apple to provide access to an encrypted iPhone mobile used by the San Bernardino shooter, and recommended that Apple users boycott the company until Apple complied.
Such a request (demand?) conflicts with current encryption policy of major tech companies and global civil liberties groups. Mobile users are sharing an increasing amount of personal data every day and need to feel confident that their data and privacy are secure. Demanding companies should provide backdoor access to government departments violates consumer trust and potentially could lead to a decline in users of these companies’ products or services.
Net neutrality regulations will probably change.
Trump has expressed an obvious dislike for President Obama’s approach to the concept that all data transmitted over the internet should be treated equally and may try to roll back the FCC’s net neutrality rules, enabling a new Republican-leaning FCC or Congress to put forth a far less regulatory legislation. The probable outcome would be different price points for various data types and enable service providers to throttle data delivery.
Changes in US trade policy could negatively impact US mobile and telecommunication companies.
Donald Trump has called NAFTA, (the North American Free Trade Agreement) the worst trade deal in American history. Trump has also strongly opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and has further proposed taxing US companies that manufacture goods overseas that could be manufactured in the US. These policy changes could harm technology companies that manufacture overseas, like IBM and Apple, which would result in mobile devices like the iPhone becoming more expensive for US consumers.
Another problem arising from ending TPP negotiations is that it could eliminate potential international cooperation among telecom companies to make global mobile data more accessible.
The future of mobile is being redefined at this juncture in history.
Smartphone and tablet markets are close to saturation. Media, advertising, software such as mobile apps and chat bots are the area in which next stage of transformation is taking place.
With change comes opportunity and this requires a solid understanding of the latest technology and platforms that are the foundation of the mobile ecosystem, and specifically the applications that enable device functionality.
Rockstar Apps are your go to provider of all mobile related technology solutions and we remain at the forefront of the technology services required to help your company optimise the results of a transition to better business development and customer service using mobile platforms and applications. If you are unsure of how much benefit a mobile first solution will bring to your business, we are just a telephone call away for a free initial consultation.
Jonathan Pfahl
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