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Most of us are savvy enough to know that our every click, search, swipe, email or download may be recorded and any useful information passed on for commercial purposes. But, this week’s revelations about alleged sharing of internet data with the US government is for many people a step too far. It’s a complex story, and it raises the issues of trust and power. Commercial companies may be motivated to extract our cash, but I begrudgingly accept incessant marketing messages as the trade-off for the convenience of being online. However, the state has greater powers – and with that, the need to win greater trust. Even with good intentions to provide public security, there’s a chance that some data might be misinterpreted, or mistakes made, affecting innocent people’s lives. We must be able to trust not only the motives of our governments, but also their ability to act efficiently and wisely. This debate about surveillance and data reminds me of a discussion some years ago on karma – the Vedic concept of action and reaction which regulates human activities. One eminent scientist declared that he could not accept the idea of karma, on the basis that it would be impossible to monitor the actions of everyone on the planet. However, within the few decades since computing began, we can now capture and assess almost every word and deed of our digital life. Maybe, by appreciating how far man-made data processing has come in such a short time, I’d suggest it’s no longer inconceivable that there might be a cosmic system capable of analysing every human action. Karma doesn’t cause the circumstances of the material world – freewill does. Karma processes the ramifications of our desires and it balances the outcomes - not just within a single human lifetime – but equalised out over many lives through reincarnation...