Energy Consumers' Perspectives on Smart Meter Data

Abstract

This chapter employs the framework of contextual integrity related to privacy developed by Nissenbaum as a tool to understand consumer response to implementation of residential smart metering technology. To identify and understand specific changes in information practices brought about by the introduction of smart meters, energy consumers were interviewed, read a description of planned smart grid/meter implementation, and were asked to reflect on changes in the key actors involved, information attributes, and principles of transmission. Areas where new practices emerge with the introduction of residential smart meters were then highlighted as potential problems (privacy violations). Issues identified in this study included concern about unauthorized use and sharing of personal data, data leaks or spoofing via hacking, the blurring distinction between the home and public space, and inferences made from new data types aggregated with other personal data that could be used to unjustly discriminate against individuals or groups.