Energy is big news at the moment, and rightly so. But there is a ‘dark side’ to all of this, as recently underlined by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), which warned that the new smart meters could contain a whole raft of private information.
The government has said that it is committed to the roll-out of smart meters. Under the plans, each home will get a new smart gas meter and a new electricity meter. One is the ‘host’ meter, which will communicate with the customer and the supplier. The upside is that this should bring an end to estimated bills, because the technology sends back an accurate meter reading to the energy company every day.
Conversely, a variety of security concerns have been raised regarding the technology. This includes the quantity of personal data held on the devices. What’s more, this new technology could make clear the precise times that householders are apt to leave their home, or when they sleep, by looking at their energy usage. If that wasn’t bad enough, energy company First Utility recently announced a link-up with Google that would allow people to check their energy usage via the internet and mobile phone.
That doesn’t sound too secure does it?
Worryingly, First Utility has also argued that there should be no requirement for a screen on each smart meter that displays how much energy has been used. He said many people would access this information on their mobiles. So instead of ‘glancing in the cupboard’, we would now be expected to pick up our phones, go online, click through all the options; it’s madness. Life’s too short.
In fairness, the big energy companies have said that they will offer the option of a digital display unit on every smart meter. Even so, the ICO, which monitors personal data security, said that it had already met major suppliers to discuss the security implications of smart meters. “We will continue to maintain a close dialogue to ensure that their introduction does not compromise customers’ privacy. Important issues include what information is stored on the meters themselves, in particular whether information identifying the householder will be held,” an ICO spokesman said.
We need to keep an eye on them.
Rod Millington
Editor
