John Lennon once said that “Across the Universe” had probably the best lyrics he’s ever written — probably “poetry.”

“Nothing’s gonna change my world.” It runs and runs and runs… nothing is gonna change or ruin him. His being and the way he was at that moment in time. At that time, his happiness.

One morning, I was listening to my usual Beatles playlist while working from home, that song queued and then played. I sat there, listening, and the lyric absorbed me in a way it probably never had ever before. I just thought… can I repeat with him and say “nothing’s gonna change my world” right now?

Next month? Next year?

Because it feels impossible, my world has changed irretrievably.

The quick past

In early March, I was visiting the UK, for the most part, on vacation.

On March 7th, the highlight was sitting at Anfield, watching Liverpool Football Club beat Bournemouth 2–1. It turned out to be Liverpool’s last match in the Premier League in front of spectators for the remainder of the 2020 season (which they thankfully won, notwithstanding everything else which was to come).

I remember at the time feeling just slightly worried about the possibility that the match might be cancelled because of the Coronavirus (the use of COVID-19 was a term not even really used then). The virus was starting to affect parts of Europe. But at that time, the entire notion of “social distancing” in the UK at least was… also distant. Sitting with my wife and kids amongst approximately 50,000 other people, distancing was a bit inconceivable.

Before leaving London in mid-March, we started to notice the beginning.

Masks. The odd person was wearing a mask. Hand sanitizers were soon sold out in pharmacies. Restaurants that were usually busy became half full.

I landed back home, and the questions from our Immigration Department began: “Have you had a cough, felt nauseous, had a temperature in the last week or so?”

The quick present

Since the end of March, I’ve taken the view that unless I need to go out, I won’t. Stay safe and stay home. Odd visits to get groceries, but for the most part, I get deliveries when I can. I order as much as possible from the internet.

I don’t need pretend to that I must be back at work when I work just as efficiently at home. Even more so, in ways.

Zoom, WebEx, and Microsoft Teams is now just a way of life, which everyone seems to accept. My physical presence sitting in a chair, working behind a desk, etc. in an office environment doesn’t make me feel essential.

I suffer from fewer distractions at home, strangely enough. I can honestly say, I work far more efficiently.

Every message I’ll receive pretty much starts something along the lines of “I hope you’re doing fine during these troubled [or unusual] times,” and it finishes with “All the best and stay safe.”

Stay safe. What does stay safe mean right now?

Social distancing. Social distancing. Stay home. Stay safe.

And what should occur: Testing. Testing. Testing.

The now future?

I liken this event, this pandemic, thinking ahead and the aftershock it will cause, to 9/11.

Life has changed irreparably. It did after that incident.

As an example, like 9/11, the aftereffect of the virus will no doubt enhance a new level of some form of new scanning or security at airports. Immigration controls being implemented. We will likely face, until there is a widespread vaccine, temperature checks at airports.

But soon, the use of artificial intelligence will also layer over everything. Surveillance. Facial recognition. Governments will have no choice but to rely more on large corporations and, as a result, leading to increased contact tracing, cyber threats, and…an overall impact on data privacy.

Even before COVID-19, the use of AI had a worrying effect on the future of data privacy. AI is only as effective as the humans behind the use of it. The use of AI is very nascent, but certain industries are beginning to use it to create efficiencies and — what they hope — improved customer service. But it comes with a cost.

Companies want to improve their bottom line through the use of automation and then AI, but do they care about data privacy? With the COVID-19 virus also now impacting the workplace, there is the prospect they will care even less. The bottom line is the bottom line. They now have an even better excuse.

In the ideal world, corporate executives should focus on the privacy risks associated with automation, AI, and now COVID-19.

But we will now have to look to both governments and privacy enforcement authorities to take a leading role to ensure that there is some form of legal certainty regarding the protection of data privacy, as well as how data is treated.

If not, we will face what could be a frightening and very concerning future.