Geof Wheelwright

President-elect Donald Trump brought up cybersecurity many times, often referring to it as “cyber”, very much emphasizing his priority of increasing the security of government systems. “To enhance the defense of the other agencies of government, including our law enforcement agencies, we will put together a team of the best military, civilian and private sector cybersecurity experts to comprehensively review all of our cybersecurity systems and technology,” he promised on Oct 3, speaking to veterans in Virginia. “This will include the various methods of internal monitoring, attack and penetration, investigation of suspected hackers or rogue employees, and identity protection for government employees.”

Civil rights organisations have been quick to seize on the potential impact of President-elect Trump’s policies on personal privacy. Neema Guliani, legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, said President-elect Trump should “categorically reject proposals to mandate encryption backdoors and supports reforming surveillance programs that have violated the rights of millions of Americans”. That, however, is unlikely. Given that so many in the technology industry either publicly or privately backed Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton in the election, there is some concern that President-elect Trump might try to “punish” Silicon Valley. “He has a lot of people criticizing him and if he spent his whole time getting back at people, he wouldn’t get anything done,” said Atkinson. “Trump is going to need the tech sector. You can’t make America great again if you don’t have a great tech industry.

When US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump debate, they will undoubtedly be watched carefully by senior executives of – and lobbyists for – the country’s largest technology companies. Both candidates have been vocal on some key issues near and dear to the hearts of technology companies – such as global trade. So both trade and technology appear to be on the agenda, but what else do the tech companies want Clinton and Trump talking about?

• Google: anti-competitiveness, labor issues and copyright
• Amazon: tax, product safety and aviation
• Facebook: national security, intelligence and patent law
• Apple: tax, telecoms and copyright battles