This law doesn't prevent you from gluing your phone shut, as a manufacturer. You can very much justify it with saying it's the only way to give IP68. However, y

This law doesn't prevent you from gluing your phone shut, as a manufacturer. You can very much justify it with saying it's the only way to give IP68. However, you are encouraged to think about it thoroughly, and above all give out the schematics to fix it should the need arise. Additionally, you haven't read the article properly because it concerns mostly large appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, etc. This is not exactly the kind of devices where you'll pop off covers and save up millimeters of space.