A lot has been written over the US Department of Justice and Apple sparring over unlocking the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino attackers.



 

What can CxOs in charge of enterprises / enterprise functions learn from it - take a look:



 
 
No time to watch - here are the key takeaways
 
  • Privacy Matters - Privacy is important for consumers as well as enterprises, guarding it is quickly becoming at Top 3 objective for CxOs.
     
  • Legal Frameworks Lag Behind - The legal frameworks have no been able to keep up with technology progress, that a device can / could be locked beyond the governments access has not happened before.
     
  • The Courts Decide - If you venture into the legal gray zone, be ready to defend your position in court.
     
  • Governments (so far) always win - Through all technologies, starting from the telegraph, the phone, the internet, etc. governments have always won the oversight battle.
     
  • Innovation implications - Apple has been so adamant to defend privacy, that it is even ready to close capabilities that it needs and just used around Error #53. When vendors are not able to correct own mistakes quickly, they need to develop capabilities more carefully, test longer - and that actually will result in slower innovation cycles. 
 

MyPOV

The gap between legal frameworks and technology capability is likely to widen going forward (see Safe Harbor Debate, see FCC regulation of the internet etc.), for CxO it means to be aware of the gap and make conscious decisions. On the societal side the legislative power will have to step up, ultimately driven by voters view if (in their country) there should be unbreakable devices - for the first time. Regulatory certainty around operating businesses will become even more important going forward.
 
[Update March 22nd] It looks like the DOJ has found a 3rd party to help unlock the contested iPhone. Now Apple is worried about what the 'break in' technology would be that endangers the privacy ambition. Lesson learnt: Governments find their way, one way or the other, bu we knew that before. 


 
More Musings
  • Musings - Retail is the breeding ground for NextGen Apps - read here
  • Musings – Time to re-invent email – for real! Read here
  • The Dilemma with Cloud Infrrastrcture updates - read here
  • Are we witnessing the Rise of the Enterprise Cloud? Read here
  • What are true Analytics - a Manifesto. Read here
  • Is TransBoarding the Future of Talent Management? Read here
  • How Technology Innovation fuels Recruiting and disrupts the Laggards - read here
Find more coverage on the Constellation Research website here and checkout my magazine on Flipboard and my YouTube channel here