Reuters reports on increasing concerns about privacy in the ongoing rollout of the smart grid. The grid will communicate with household smart meters capable of measuring energy use down to the appliance level. But some are concerned that the meters' data-gathering abilities may be compared to having "spies" within the household. At the Smart Grids and Cleanpower conference in Cambridge, a Siemens Energy spokesman warned that regulations are needed to specify that the data smart meters collect belong to the consumer alone, or consumers will resist adopting the technology. Now, his company has the technology to record "masses of private data" on household activity, he said. (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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