Q2. What have the authors stated for future works in "Smart meter data: balancing consumer privacy concerns with legitimate applications" ?
It is suggested however that much can be done to maintain privacy within this application, for example by improving the current structural classification of dwellings within network design, and this is recommended as a useful topic for further research. Secondly, where consumer load profiles are consistently different from the settlement profile classes, as may be the case for small, niche suppliers, such data could be used to improve the accuracy of the settlement process. This paper suggests that the use of appropriate 'privacy friendly ' techniques can considerably reduce the electricity supply industry 's requirements for sensitive smart meter data.
Q3. Why are smart meters being installed in large numbers throughout the world?
Smart meters are being installed in large numbers throughout the world due to the benefits they are expected to bring to the electricity supply industry and its customers.
Q4. What is the main concern of the article?
Perhaps the most obvious concern is that commercial entities, including companies of various forms, will seek to use smart meter data as a means to gather information about their market and customers.
Q5. What are the main objectives of smart meters?
Different stakeholders have different objectives: suppliers (the companies that purchase electricity in the wholesale market and sell electricity to consumers in the retail market) are expecting to reduce operational overheads associated with manual meter reading and potentially improve customer loyalty or „stickyness‟ (Rogai, 2006); the operators of the transmission system and distribution networks hope to benefit from a more flexible demand side to enable greater penetrations of low-carbon technologies (Strbac et al., 2010); governments hope that the improvements in end-use energy efficiency promised by smart meters will help to achieve binding carbon reduction targets (Department for Energy and Climate Change, 2010); and end-users may hope to benefit from reduced electricity bills as they become more energy aware (Darby, 2006; Mott MacDonald, 2007; Owen and Ward, 2006).
Q6. What is the main point of the article?
Some journalists have accused smart meters of having the potential to be a „spy in the home‟, which will allow governments to monitor household behaviour (Jamieson, 2009).
Q7. What is the main purpose of the article?
The installation of smart meters is presented by their proponents as a critical step in the transition to a low-carbon economy, yet it is a step that could prove unwelcome to consumers if their privacy concerns are not adequately considered.
Q8. What are the main privacy concerns related to smart meters?
Uses by law enforcement agencies Detection of illegal activities e.g. sweatshops, unlicensed commercial activities, drug production.
Q9. What is the meaning of the sentence?
The judges of the yearly event, which is organised by the „FoeBuD‟ civil rights and privacy campaign group, thought that the supplier‟s smart metering activities would „potentially lead […] to a detailed surveillance of activities in the home‟
Q10. What is the name of the company?
In Germany, the electricity supplier Yello Strom GmbH „won‟ an award in the Technology category of a „Big Brother‟ awards ceremony in 2008 for its plans to introduce smart meters to its customers.