The pandemic all but killed privacy. It’s not too late to bring it back.

Despite being ensconced in our homes for more than a year, we do not have a lot of privacy.

In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic has entrenched the yearslong erosion of our privacy, according to Harvard professor emeritus Shoshana Zuboff. Powerful tech companies were already doing big business with our data. Now they’re providing the tools essential for school, work, even getting the vaccine.

“If you look at the ways that the companies have really been able to … drive the these huge increases in their market capitalization over this past year-and-a-half,” Zuboff said. “The very first one is just the expansion of business as usual.”

On today’s show, we’ll talk about the threats to our privacy with Zuboff, author of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.” It may not be our most uplifting interview, but Zuboff says there’s a reason to hopeful: Living online has sharply increased public concern about data privacy and lawmakers’ appetite for regulating Big Tech.

“Their audacity, their invasiveness has poked the sleeping giant of democracy one too many times,” she said, adding: “Everything is in play now in a way that it hasn’t been for two decades.”

Later in the show, we’ll get some listener thoughts on reparations and Dogecoin, plus a capsule history of the bulldozer.

When you’re done listening, tell your Echo device to “make me smart” for our daily explainers. This week we’re explaining electric vehicles, farmers markets and ketchup. And don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter! You can find the latest issue here.

Here’s what we talked about today:

• “The year we gave up on privacy” from Recode
• “Everything you need to know about vaccine passports” also from Recode
• “Pharmacies score customer data in vaccine effort. Some are crying foul.” from Politico
• “Biden seeks $80 billion to boost IRS enforcement” from CNN
• “Google Promised Its Contact Tracing App Was Completely Private—But It Wasn’t” from The Markup

Finally: We need your voice memos! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood to answer! Here’s how to do it.