John Naughton, London, 18 April 2020<\/p>\n
From online GPs and home working to smartphone tracking, the speed at which we are embracing technology is unprecedented \u2013 but can we trust it?<\/em><\/p>\n P<\/span><\/span>andemics \u2013 as the historian Yuval Noah Harari<\/a> has observed \u2013 press the fast-forward button on history. Suddenly, changes that would in pre-corona times have generated years of debate, dissent, hesitation, opposition and delay turn out to be possible overnight.<\/p>\n Exhibit A in this context is the way in which hundreds of thousands of white-collar workers are suddenly able \u2013 indeed, required \u2013 to work from home.<\/p>\n Exhibit B \u2013 more worrying \u2013 is the way governments are either already deploying<\/a>, or actively considering<\/a>, surveillance technology of such intrusiveness that it would have caused outrage and furious protests even a month ago.<\/p>\n Exhibit C is the decision<\/a> of the two huge tech companies that control mobile phone technology \u2013 Apple with its iOS operating system and Google with Android \u2013 to create application programming interfaces (APIs) that will enable governments to build and deploy proximity-tracking apps on every smartphone in the world. This is remarkable in two ways. One, it involves cooperation between the two members of a global duopoly that would normally trigger antitrust suits \u2013 yet there hasn\u2019t been even a whimper from competition authorities. And two, the companies insist that if governments do not comply with the conditions that they \u2013 Apple and Google \u2013 are laying down, then they will withdraw the APIs. The specific condition is that apps using the APIs are not mandatory for citizens. They have to be opt-in. So here we have two powerful global corporations laying down the law to territorial sovereigns. Unthinkable a month ago. But now\u2026<\/p>\n Signs of dramatic changes are everywhere \u2013 even in GP surgeries. The New York Times<\/em> published an interesting report<\/a> on how the work of GPs in London is being transformed by the virus. \u201cWe\u2019re basically witnessing 10 years of change in one week,\u201d one GP told the paper. \u201cIt used to be that 95% of patient contact was face-to-face: you go to see your doctor, as it has been for decades, centuries. But that has changed completely.\u201d Before the virus, video appointments made up only 1% of annual appointments with British GPs and other practice staff. But the NHS has urged<\/a> thousands of clinics across the country to start switching to remote consultations and has fast-tracked approval of digital providers to ramp up their offerings.<\/p>\n