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Protecting data privacy is key to a smart energy future

Nature Energy volume 3, pages 702–704 (2018)Cite this article

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The ability to collect fine-grained energy data from smart meters has benefits for utilities and consumers. However, a proactive approach to data privacy is necessary to maximize the potential of these data to support low-carbon energy systems and innovative business models.

The planned deployment of smart meters brings with it unprecedented insights into energy use behaviour. For utilities, advantages include more effective billing, remote disconnection and avoidance of fraud. For customers, smart meters promise fewer inaccurate bills and the chance to better manage energy use and expenditure. Smart meters are also an enabler for new business models and tariffs using variable or time-dependant rates, and could lead to demand reduction through feedback3. Indeed, much hope rests on smart data to aid the decarbonization of our energy systems. A proactive engagement with privacy challenges in this domain is needed to prevent scandals akin to those of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. Transparency and best practices can build and maintain users’ trust in the companies they rely on, which in turn will enable new business models to take advantage of the power of these data in ethical ways. The timely arrival of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force on 25 May 2018, could change the way energy service providers engage with their customers. This is a unique opportunity to enhance trustworthiness (the commitment and competence to treat users fairly and protect them from harm) and build trust (the confidence felt by consumers that energy service providers are trustworthy), which could be vital prerequisites for innovative future business models.

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Acknowledgements

The work of C.V. has been supported by a Wellcome Trust Grant (203132/Z/16/Z).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Carissa Véliz

  2. Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Philipp Grunewald

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  1. Carissa Véliz
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  2. Philipp Grunewald
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Correspondence to Carissa Véliz or Philipp Grunewald.

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Véliz, C., Grunewald, P. Protecting data privacy is key to a smart energy future. Nat Energy 3, 702–704 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0203-3

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