Speaking at European House in Berlin: The “Brussels effect” alone is not enough.

In October, I was invited by Sergey Lagodinskyto discuss the geopolitical dimension and effects of technological competition with Dr. Janka Oertel and Dr. Dimitrios Argirakos at the Europa Haus in Berlin. Even in the preliminary discussion, the panelists quickly agreed on what has been lacking in Europe in recent years. In recent years, Europe and Germany have rested too much on their own (economic) dominance in the tailwind of US and US-influenced rule-based globalization and must now enter the competition more confidently.

In my contributions, I have repeatedly emphasized that regulation alone will not take us forward. The paper-based financial system in particular will lose influence in the competition between systems in the long term and the new financial world will be increasingly determined by code. If Europe wants to maintain its position as an economic power, it needs innovation and we must offer the world a reliable financial infrastructure that is based on the rule of law and, above all, open.

The digital age is not determined by legislators, but by the code that is written and used.

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Time to say goodbye to Apple?

For a long time, I defended Apple’s rigors App Store and Platform policy due to their commitment to privacy and security.

I supported them when they did not decrypt the phone of a terrorist because it would harm the security of every iPhone in the world.

I embraced critic of the proposed EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) for the forced interoperability that might harm the overall security of the system and every iPhone in the world.

The latest announcement for their capability to decrypt and remotely access the physical storage of every phone, forces me to reconsider my opinion on the companies positions, policy, and values. If the company itself hampers with the platform’s security on this level, there is no good argument left to make life for vendors on the difficult and charge horrendous fees.

Seems like their advertisement slogan “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone“ was not a statement of conscious or values, it was nothing more than an (untrue) catchy slogan.

I guess, it’s time we fund a decent open-source Operating System for phones…

Anyone a good recommendation for a secure phone that doesn’t snoop on your privacy?

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