As the 2016 national election approaches, millions of people in the United States and around the world wonder where the two leading presidential candidates stand on top tech issues. Although high tech pervades modern society in nearly every field today, pinning the two major party nominees down on some issues proves difficult sometimes.
Both maintain significant low favorable ratings from the public and neither can claim undivided support from technology workers. On some tech questions, Republican businessman Donald J. Trump and Democrat former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appear far apart; on others, their views practically converge. This year voters will need to study position papers closely to assess candidate positions with accuracy!
The issue of granting additional H1-B Visas to foreign workers with tech credentials divides the candidates sharply. Although he admits he took advantage of the federal immigration provisions in the past to hire inexpensive foreign technical workers, Donald Trump has declared he would oppose the practice as President, noting it is “very bad” for “our workers” and the United States “should end” the practice. By contrast, Hillary Clinton has indicated she will strive to make the United States attractive to highly skilled foreign workers, including technology experts. She does not specifically address the H1-B visa issue in her white paper “Initiative on Technology & Innovation.”
Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton disagree on some other hot button technology issues. too. With respect to net neutrality, the idea that Internet service providers should not treat customers disparately based on size, Hillary Clinton vows to defend President Obama's position favoring net neutrality as a matter of fairness. Donald Trump has not addressed the topic extensively prior to the first presidential debates, but did issue a 2014 Tweet indicating his disagreement with President Obama's position on net neutrality.
With respect to ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), Donald Trump objects to a private entity assuming control of the system for assigning domain names and IP addresses. Hillary Clinton disagrees. She reportedly views ICANN's role as critical for the well being of future Internet users.
Both candidates endorse the importance of cybersecurity as a matter of principle. Hillary Clinton cites security implications of foreign hackers penetrating U.S. government computers. Donald Trump has noted a “strong use” of computer resources carries the potential to render countries “nonfunctional.”
The candidates perhaps agree on supporting law enforcement in breaking private encryption protocols in certain situations in order to combat terrorism. Donald Trump has expressed vigorous support for this position by calling for a boycott of Apple when the company refused to assist the police in unlocking an iPhone after a deadly mass terror incident in San Bernardino, California. Hillary Clinton, describing it as “the worst dilemma ever”, urged policymakers to protect personal privacy while conceding the government requires “some way” to track down criminals to prevent future acts of terrorism.
Online surveillance by the NSA appears to represent another issue in which significant areas of agreement likely exist. Hillary Clinton, who as a Senator voted for the Patriot Act and for its re-authorization, now calls for “better balance” on privacy issues versus the government's surveillance apparatus, but has not set forth a plan for achieving this goal. She believes Edward Snowden should return to the United States “and answer for what he has done”. Donald Trump admits he would likely “err on the side of security” in any contest between the NSA and privacy interests. He describes Edward Snowden as “a traitor.”
Hillary Clinton does appear to hold a strong lead in terms of personal popularity with the leaders of high tech firms. In July, some 140 senior executives in the high tech industry co-signed a letter deploring the prospects for innovation during a Trump Administration. Prominent signatories included Pierre Omidyar, a founder of eBay, and Steve Wozniak, an Apple co-founder.
Donald Trump has gained the support of some Silicon Valley leaders, including Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, Doug Burgum, the former President of Great Plains Software and a previous head of Microsoft Business Solutions and computer scientist Robert Mercer, a co-founder of Renaissance Technologies.
In the future, technology issues will probably continue to play an increasingly significant role in civic events. The rise of the Information Age has created a host of new, timely issue of public concern relating to technology fields.
