Personal Information

Background

Steve Wilson is VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, focusing on digital identity and privacy. His coverage areas span the business research themes of Digital Safety and Privacy, Data to Decisions, and Consumerization of IT. His advisory services to CIOs, CISOs, CPOs and IT architects include Security Practice Benchmarking, Privacy Engineering and Privacy Impact Assessment.

Coverage Areas:

-  Identity management, frameworks & governance
-  Digital identity technologies
-  Privacy by Design

-  Big Data; “Big Privacy”
-  Identity & privacy innovation

Previous experience:

Wilson has worked in ICT innovation, research, development and analysis for over 25 years. With double degrees in physics and electrical engineering, the early part of his career saw high achievement in medical software engineering and product development, in Australia and the US. He moved into cyber security in 1995, and specialized in identity management, working in R&D management and Principal Consultant roles with Security Domain (later Baltimore Technologies), KPMG, PwC and SecureNet. He founded Lockstep Consulting in 2004, where he has forged an illustrious track record in identity and privacy research and advice. Wilson is responsible for numerous breakthroughs in difficult areas of identity infrastructure and governance, including national and industry level authentication frameworks, PKI systems, smartcards, digital credentials, fraud control, and privacy engineering. He has provided advice on national ID frameworks to the governments of Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Macau, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.

Professional background:

- CSIRO: Experimental Scientist (1986-87)
- Telectronics Pacing Systems: Systems Engineer, Team Leader, Section Head (1987-92)
- Telectronics Pacing Systems (USA): Head of Software Engineering (1992-95)
- Security Domain (Baltimore Technologies): Software Development Manager (1995-97)
- KPMG: Associate Director, Certification Authority (1997-99)
- PwC beTRUSTed: Director of PKI Strategy & Policy (2000-02)
- SecureNet: Chief Security Advisder & Professional Services Manager (2002-03)
- Lockstep Group: Founder & Principal Consultant  (2004-now)

Education:

- Bachelor of Science – physics major (1982)
- Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Hons) – digital electronics major (1986)

Patents

- System and method for anonymously indexing electronic record systems US 8,347,101; AU 2005220988
- Authenticating electronic financial transactions US 8,608,065; US 8,286,865; AU 2009238204; NZ 589160

- Verified anonymous code signing AU 2012101460

- Decoupling identity in the Internet of Things (pending)

Twitter: @Steve_Lockstep

LinkedIn: 

Big Ideas

Technologists talk about "ecosystems" but they are not thinking ecologically!

Digital Identity frameworks often fail when they inadvertently change how businesses relate to their customers. New digital technology can provoke a sort of ‘immune response’ from established businesses if we don’t account for how identities have evolved to survive specific risks in real world business system niches.

"Big Privacy"

Big Data needs "Big Privacy". This has to be much more than "Privacy by Design writ large" as some have called it, because Big Data is qualitatively as well as quantitatively different from what data scientists did before. To me "Big Privacy" is grandly optimistic, and it implies a challenge to go beyond regular privacy mechanisms. In an age of super transparency, information based businesses must be open about the way they trade in personal data.