by K.T. Weaver, SkyVision Solutions
My interest in the smart meter controversy started over the aspect of privacy invasions. Just last year I posted a comprehensive report on how smart meters invade individual and behavioral privacy.
This past July, the Judge for a Naperville, Illinois, smart meter lawsuit effectively acknowledged that smart meters invade privacy, but he ruled that consumers were “deemed to have consented” to these privacy invasions “through their [continued] usage of electricity services” subsequent to the smart meters being installed. To me this was an inexplicable ruling since most if not all members of the lawsuit had explicitly denied consent to the utility for smart meter installations, some were arrested by the police for refusing installation, and the lawsuit itself should have fully demonstrated to the Judge that “consent” had not been granted.
In any case, part of the rationale on whether privacy invasions are deemed as “unreasonable” from a legal perspective and in a court of law is whether a specific individual’s expectation for privacy in the home, viewed objectively, should be recognized as reasonable and justifiable by society.
Recent sociological research confirms that increased privacy risks created by utility smart meters are likely to provoke opposition to the devices (if consumers become aware of the associated risks). This evidence supports the conclusion that societal norms are still in place that would lead one to conclude that smart meter privacy invasions are unacceptable and unreasonable.
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Within the last few months, there have been Congressional testimonies by expert witnesses further revealing that utility ‘smart’ meters increase the vulnerability of our electric grid to cyber attacks. These testimonies do not generally make it into the daily news broadcasts or newspapers that would help raise public awareness of the threats, but articles written for this website include:
Smart Grid Awareness 