Apple's Privacy Fight Could Be Even Worse in Europe

Throughout its fight with the FBI over unlocking iPhones, Apple has said that lawmakers, not courts, should be the ones setting the course on encryption policy. This stance doesn’t come without risk, since there’s no guarantee that Congress would give Apple what it wants. Meanwhile, foreign lawmakers are threatening to muddy the waters even further. Recent actions in Europe and South America reveal the potential for a patchwork of varying national policies that could pose an impossible situation for global technology companies. How can they comply with differing, sometimes conflicting laws in the many countries in which they operate?

Discord is inevitable, argues Rob Knake, who served as director of cybersecurity for the White House from 2011 to 2015. He thinks the thorniest policy issues will arise with governments from countries that are close to the U.S. culturally and politically.