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86 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 161 (2011)
Privacy Implications of Smart Meters

handle is hein.journals/chknt86 and id is 169 raw text is: PRIVACY IMPLICATIONS OF SMART METERS CHERYL DANCEY BALOUGH* INTRODUCTION It's 1984, Orwellian time. The telescreens are everywhere, monitoring the intimate details of citizens' lives within their own homes. Big Brother is watching you. Now transport yourself to 2010. Smart meters-along with other smart devices-are being installed in homes across the country. By measuring energy consumption by appliance every fifteen minutes, they capture details on how you spend your days and nights. When you turn off the lights. When you take a shower. When you leave home. Where your electric vehicle is being charged. But who is watching you? Who has access to all this information? The electric company? Appliance manufac- turers? The government? The Internet? What might they do with it? Or- well's 1984 has not come to pass, but smart meters have. This article examines the privacy implications of smart meters and explores options for protecting one of our most basic rights. I. A RECENT HISTORY On October 27, 2009, the President of the United States announced $3.4 billion in Smart Grid Investment Grant awards-the largest group of American Reinvestment and Recovery Act awards ever made in a single day.' More than one hundred companies, utilities, municipalities, and other entities in forty-two U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Guam re- ceived the awards, with a sizeable portion going toward expanding access to smart meters and associated smart appliances and devices.2 Smart me- * Cheryl Dancey Balough is a member of Balough Law Offices, LLC, a firm that focuses on public utility, privacy, and intellectual property law. She can be contacted at cba- lough@balough.com. The author wishes to thank Chicago-Kent College of Law Professor Fred P. Bosselman, for his critique of the author's initial exploration of privacy issues raised by the im- plementation of smart meters, and Richard C. Balough, for his valuable insights and editorial rec- ommendations. 1. Press Release, U.S. Dep't of Energy, President Obama Announces $3.4 Billion Investment to Spur Transition to Smart Energy Grid (October 27, 2009) (on file with author), available at http://www.energy.gov/news2009/8216.htm. 2. Id; U.S. Dep't of Energy, Recovery Act Selections For Smart Grid Investment Grant Awards - By State, available at http://www.energy.gov/recovery/smartgridmaps/SGIGSelectionsState.pdf (last visited Oct. 15, 2010) 161

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