This discussion is about changes in the world, changes that affect us as academics, changes that affect us as empirical researchers (qualitative and quantitative), and changes that affect our students and our universities/ colleges I am an empirical social scientist, a political methodologist, and a statistician, so I will only discuss topics along these lines where I am qualified to make comments As of this re-rewriting, the country and the world are in various levels of lockdown and recovery because of Covid-19 During this difficult process it is clear that data and privacy issues are changing rapidly There is evidence that some governments are using the pandemic to extend their reach into data spheres that were more difficult to monitor and control before I hope that this is a temporary trend and that people around the world can keep some control over their data as challenging world events unfold © 2021 by the Southern Political Science Association All rights reserved