I am in Brussels. And I am scared. Very scared... of the probable security backlash following last month’s terrorist attacks.

I don’t want to live in a city where everyone is viewed with suspicion by the authorities, because it won’t stop there. Suspicion is infectious. When misappropriated and misdirected, suspicion becomes racism and prejudice—two of the key ingredients that led the attacks on the morning of Tuesday, March 22.

ISIL is not only fighting a cultural war; it's fighting a media war. For that reason maybe we should stop talking about it as though it were a “real” war. As though there were valiant warriors on both sides. As though those responsible for the Brussels bombings are anything more than murderers, plain and simple. Truthfully, the only community the Brussels attackers belong to now is the criminal community.

It is time to strip terrorists of their mystique. We must stop playing their game. Statistically, I am not any less safe today than I was on the Monday before the attacks. Yet if certain politicians have their way, my activities will be monitored a great deal more.

Two days after the attacks, EU ministers met in Brussels at an emergency justice and home affairs council. They predictably demanded more access to our Internet histories, more powers to track people, and more ways to break into our private communications.

The European People's Party has reportedly said it wants personal data on everyone who takes a train to be stored. Meanwhile, a so-called Passenger Name Record is in the works for all airline passengers.

And, even before the terrorist attacks, Belgium officials were mulling the expansion of the country's data collecting and storing laws. Never mind that the European Court of Justice and the Belgian Constitutional Court have ruled that data retention is illegal. New legislation is also in the works that would allow intelligence agencies more freedom to eavesdrop on cross-border communications: “Hello Mum, nice to talk to you… and everyone else listening in.”

Turning leaky tap on secure apps

On a European level, the ePrivacy Directive is up for review this year. There will be no prize for predicting that secure online communications services, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, and even Viber, Skype, and Facebook Messenger could all be in the crosshair. Will there be anywhere left to have a private conversation online?

Like anyone, I believe those who carried out the attacks in Brussels should be brought to justice, but not at any cost. And certainly not at the cost to ordinary citizens’ freedom and way of life.

But will these new measures even work to prevent future attacks? I’ve seen no evidence—and I've asked many Brussels-based folk—to support that view. Does taking a plane or a train make you more likely to be a terrorist—sorry—murderer? Are overwhelmed police forces really able to cope with combing through that amount of data? Experience suggests that having access to the travel histories of everyone would have made little difference in the Brussels case. Europe’s security problem is not with too little information, but with too little sharing and understanding of that information.

Just like physical security, increased surveillance generally doesn’t make us any safer. We don't feel more secure when we see souped-up security guards everywhere. Often the effect is the opposite. Security theatre isn’t even effective as good theatre.

I understand the desire to do something—anything!—after such an atrocity. The worst emotion I had to cope with as the horror unfolded was feeling useless. But sometimes, especially when we are shocked, doing nothing is the best option.

Kneejerk reactions are almost always poorly thought out. Four day before the attacks, the European Data Protection Supervisor, Giovanni Buttarelli, put out a press release saying that legislative proposals to fight cross-border crime including terrorism were too rushed and too weak to do the job, anyway. Now, post-March 22, hasty decisions are even more likely.

That I am appalled at some of the reaction to the attacks is not a surprise. My view has always been that more “security,” more surveillance, and more data retention not only won't work, but will undermine our rights. My opinion on this point is not new. What is new is that it has been tested. As someone who walks the streets past Maelbeek metro station every day, I have a valid insight on what will and won't make me feel safe and how much of my privacy I am willing to give up for it.