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From Canada Free Press
Smart Meters – Big Brother of our day
Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh
_______________________
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine advised on January 12,
2012 in a letter addressed to the Public Utilities Commission of the
State of California that they opposed “the installation of wireless
smart meters in homes and schools based on a scientific assessment of
the current medical literature. Chronic exposure to wireless
radiofrequency radiation is a preventable environmental hazard that is
sufficiently well documented to warrant immediate preventative public
health action.”
“Exposure to levels of radio frequency RF (3KHz-300GHz) and extremely
low frequency ELF (300Hz) produced by smart meters warrants immediate
and complete moratorium on their use and deployment until further
study.”
The FCC guidelines that deem smart meters safe are obsolete because
they study only “thermal tissue damage and overlook genetic and
cellular effects, hormonal effects, male fertility, blood/brain
barrier damage, and increased risk of certain types of cancer from RF
and ELF levels similar to those emitted by smart meters.”
As each home becomes a “wireless telecommunications facility,”
children are particularly at risk for altered brain development,
impaired learning, and behavior.”
Current safety limits on pulsed RF are considered “not protective of
public health” by the Radiofrequency Interagency Working Group (FDA,
OSHA, EPA, FCC). Emissions of smart meters have been classified by
the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) as a possible human carcinogen.
The Congressional Research Service and its legislative attorneys
prepare reports for Congress on various issues. Two such reports were
issued on smart meters. “Smart Meter Data: Privacy and Cybersecurity”
was published on February 3, 2012 and “The Smart Grid and
Cybersecurity – Regulatory Policy and Issues” was published on June
15, 2011.
The writers agreed, “unforeseen consequences under federal law may
result from the installation of smart meters and the communications
technologies that accompany them.” In addition, the information
“generated from smart meters is a new frontier for police
investigations.”
The Fourth Amendment requires police to have probable cause to search
areas in which people have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Courts
deny protection to information a customer gives to a business as part
of their commercial relationship. Thus, police can access bank
records, phone, and traditional utility records through the “third
party doctrine.” Technology can erode an individual’s privacy even
more.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 gave stimulus money
to electric utilities to accelerate the deployment of smart meters to
millions of homes via the Department of Energy’s Smart Grid Investment
Grant Program. Developers thought that the old patchwork
infrastructure did not interface, was an arcane system of electricity
delivery, and had to be replaced by a nationwide system called the
Smart Grid that could be easily controlled and manipulated from a
central location.
Smart meter technology is part of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure
(AMI). It records near-real time data on electricity usage, it
transmits data to the Smart Grid, and it “receives communication from
Smart Grid such as real-time energy prices, or remote commands that
can alter a consumer’s electricity usage to facilitate demand
response.”
In case you misunderstand what demand response is, here is the
official definition. “Demand response is the reduction of the
consumption of electric energy by customers in response to an increase
in the price of electricity or heavy burdens on the system.” Notice
that the reduction in consumption is not defined as voluntary when
there is a heavy burden on the system, and it incorporates the promise
by the President that our electricity prices will skyrocket.
Smart meters are designed to decrease peak demand for electricity by
turning off electricity to customers by remote. Remotely controlled
thermostats will also turn off air conditioning units.
HVAC contractors are required to install programmable thermostats on
all systems in areas where city officials have inspection authority
created by city councils. Thermostats can be overridden by the smart
meter so that a home’s temperature can also be remotely controlled.
RFID tracking tags will be gradually installed in all items purchased,
including digital thermostats. Non-digital thermostats cannot be
tracked and will thus be banned.
The Department of Energy used the $4.5 billion stimulus to reimburse
up to 50 percent of smart grid investments, including the cost to
electric utilities of buying and installing smart meters. As of
September 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) funded
7.2 million smart meters and partially 15.5 million. The Institute for
Electric Efficiency (IEE) expects 65 million smart meters in operation
by 2015.
The issues for those who generate, seek, or use the data recorded by
smart meters are varied.
Privacy of electronic communications
Data storage
Computer misuse
Foreign surveillance
Consumer protection
Cybersecurity
Hacking
Health issues
Higher energy costs for consumers
Solar flares
Electromagnetic pulse (EMP)
The myriad of legal entanglements cannot be predicted. According to
Richard J. Campbell, Specialist in Energy Policy, “It is unclear how
Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizures
would apply to smart meter data, due to the lack of cases on this
issue.”
Smart meter technology measures usage as frequently as once every
minute, which appliances a consumer is using, what time of day, if a
residence is occupied, how many people reside there, if it’s occupied
by more people than usual, daily schedules, including times when they
are or away from home or asleep, if homes have alarm systems, if they
own expensive electronic equipment such as plasma TVs, if they use
certain types of medical equipment.” (Department of Energy)
Utility providers match data on electricity usage with “known
appliance load signatures” and daily schedules by observing when
residents use most electricity. U.S. v. Kyllo subpoenaed electricity
spreadsheet records because they suspected an indoor marijuana growing
operation. Imagine how much easier it would be today with smart
meters.
According to Jeffrey Carr, “Health insurance companies could determine
if a house uses certain medical devices and appliance manufacturers
could establish if a warranty has been violated.”
Smart meters collect and store data on names, service address, billing
information, networked appliances, meter IP address, transactional
records, and identity of the transmitter. Data is sent to the grid via
twisted–copper phone lines, cable lines, fiber optic cable, cellular,
satellite, microwave, WiMAX, power line carrier, and broadband over
power line. Wireless costs less but cybersecurity becomes a huge issue
because data is stored within the grid and within the physical world.
Smart meters can give police access to eating, sleeping, showering
habits, appliance use and when, TV use, and exercise equipment use
take place. Does this uphold the Fourth Amendment that the “right of
the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated”?
Liberties in the Constitution apply only to actions by the state and
federal governments. Utilities can be privately owned, publicly owned,
federally operated, and non-profit cooperatives. Under “public records
theory, law enforcement can request smart meter data since public
records are not afforded Fourth Amendment protection. Law enforcement
access to state public records is unrestricted.” (Slobogin, Nilson v.
Layton City)
Each state has different rules on whether utility records are public
records. For example, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North
Carolina consider a person’s utility records as public records.
“Third party doctrine,” words told to another person, informant,
agent, gave police access to documents in the past such as phone,
bank, cell phone, hotel records. Utility records were treated
similarly, leaving room for smart meter records abuse.
Hackers could easily capture data from the outside with a hand-held
device, sell the information to the highest bidder, or establish
patterns in order to rob the house.
A court warrant should be required to access the data but neither the
Supreme Court nor any lower federal court has ruled on the use of
smart meters.
Perhaps people should think twice before they accept the $100 check
offered by their utility companies in order to “save the planet” and
reduce electric bills
Utilities may sell or share data obtained from smart meters with
others in order to increase revenues. Utilities are monopolies and
customers cannot switch providers in order to avoid the invasion of
privacy. Electricity is a necessary component of modern life.
“Advancement of technology threatens to erode further the
constitutional protection of privacy.” Individuals face a higher risk
that activities inside their homes will be monitored by the
government. (Congressional Research Service)
Perhaps people should think twice before they accept the $100 check
offered by their utility companies in order to “save the planet” and
reduce electric bills. Ask the Californians who have filed a
class-action lawsuit against PG&E after smart meters were installed
and their electric bills have skyrocketed. Is a small $100 bribe meant
to help you or hurt you?
Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh
Most recent columns
“Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh ( Romanian Conservative) is a freelance
writer (Canada Free Press, Romanian Conservative), author, radio
commentator, and speaker. Her book, “Echoes of Communism, is available
at Amazon in paperback and Kindle. Short essays describe health care,
education, poverty, religion, social engineering, and confiscation of
property. Visit her website, ileanajohnson.com.