Profiling whole populations instead of monitoring individual suspects is a sinister step in any society.

"It's dangerous enough at national level, but on a Europe-wide scale the idea becomes positively chilling."

Open Europe believes intelligence gathered by Indect and other such systems could be used by a little-known body, the EU Joint Situation Centre (SitCen), which it claims is "effectively the beginning of an EU secret service". Critics have said it could develop into "Europe's CIA".

All residents of the EU should begin cultivating reputations for eccentricity. "Is my neighbor behaving oddly? I don't know – what's 'odd' for someone who ordinarily wears a flowerpot as a hat and has his car covered with papier mache newspapers?"

Well, I can just lean back and relax, then. I've got that covered.