Burglars and marketing companies could exploit data from “smart meters” that monitor household energy use, the Privacy Commissioner says.
Timothy Pilgrim, the nation’s privacy regulator, said yesterday the new meters could be used to build profiles on people’s habits — including the times they are home, whether their house has an alarm system, which appliances they use and when they watch television.
He called for privacy laws to be extended to protect entire households, not just the individual customers who sign power contracts.
“Smart infrastructure will generate information about the behaviors of individuals, often in the home,” Mr Pilgrim told The Australian. “The risk with a rich, new data source is the potential for information to be used for more than originally intended.
“So it could mean collecting data about a person’s electricity usage for billing purposes and then selling data to appliance vendors or other businesses.”
Smart meters are remote digital devices which send real-time meter readings to power utilities every half-hour.
They will be installed in 2.5 million Victorian households by the end of 2013 and are being trialled in other states and territories.
Utilities plan to use the smart meters to tailor bills, charging more for electricity used at peak times of demand during the day, and less at nights and weekends.
