Just how safe do you think your personal data is? If recent hacking scandals involving big names like Sony and J.P. Morgan Chase showed us anything, it was that no one’s personal data is as safe and secure as we would like to believe. And beyond issues regarding personal correspondence, medical data, or financial information getting into the wrong hands, there is also a new way for power providers to track and monitor your energy usage – and this system isn’t safe either. The new “smart meters” put into practice in the United States are already raising serious cause for concern.

But what kind of data could be obtained by utility conglomerates from these meters without the knowledge of consumers, and how could that data could be misused or fall into the hands of hackers?

It’s been reported that the data these meters collect will be more valuable than the energy they’re intended to monitor – and that’s a tragically ironic situation if there ever was one. But before we get into the politics of it all, let’s talk about why the issue of “smart” meters – and the “smart grid,” in a more broad sense – is considered “desperately important” and why it’s capable of infringing on what seemingly little privacy we have left. Continue reading →