My response to the email was thus:
Ok, this is what always happens whenever a new technology - intended to be more efficient and save money - is introduced. When EZ Pass was introduced in Boston for use with the toll booth systems, people were all freaked out that it would radio your speed to police. That never happened, but people freaked out about it anyway. Now, EZ Pass is seen for the benign time and money-saving technology that it is.
Let me give you a technical person's perspective on this. It would be INCREDIBLY inefficient for a smart meter to continuously record, sort, table and allocate information and then send it back to a "big brother" computer for infinite storage. Storage of that much demographic data for a company whose purpose is not to be an information technology company is ridiculously expensive. It takes a huge staff just to manage a data collection center of that magnitude, not to mention the Database Administration staffs who would have to sort, track and report on all that electric toothbrush usage. Companies usually don't spend lots of money willy-nilly like that (and man I wish they did, we techs could use the jobs) unless they expect to make lots of money doing it. There is no money for power companies to start trading in information. The cost outweighs any benefit. And electric companies aren't broadband companies and broadband is expensive. Relaying that information from every smart meter "constantly" for - what purpose exactly?? To track your electric toothbrush usage? Really? "They" want to keep record of that? No. Smart Meters are intended for two purposes: 1) to get more accurate readings from meters that do not rely on "guesswork" by humans and 2) to require fewer humans to do the job by making their jobs more efficient. Now, instead of getting out of the truck and walking over to a meter, picking through the rose bush and peering at it with a flashlight to guess at the numbers, a power company employee can drive through a neighborhood and pick up readings from the whole street.
Next, the value of the usage information is to give the power company a more accurate reading of peak electricity usage based on certain demographics. This allows them to better anticipate spikes and dips in power usage - thus preventing future power outages and allowing them to better service higher-use areas. Power implementation projects take years to complete, so with more accurate, timely data, these projects can be targeted for just the right areas and implemented much more efficiently. They'd have to do it anyway, but now with smarter information, it cuts their costs of planning to implementation.
Finally, did you know that your old-school meter is often misread and some people have actually been given credits or refunds for months of inaccurate readings after having a Smart Meter installed that was able to identify the inaccuracies? The moral of the story - if you fear "Big Brother", then you're probably looking in the wrong place for him. Big Brother is in the credit companies that retain and sell your information daily. There is some discrepancy to the actual numbers, but the average American is filmed by surveillance cameras anywhere from 20 to 200 times a day as they go about their business. Usually by surveillance cameras in local shops and the like. That data isn't stored in any big repository, either, but it is captured. And yet not many people worry about that.
I would worry far more about information that people give out willingly or unknowingly - such as by leaving their facebook profile wide open to the world, by signing up for "free" stuff sweepstakes and giving personal information, or by just having terribly simple passwords and un-secured personal computers at home. When I get tons of emails from people concerned about that, then I'll stop worrying. Until then, I'll just keep responding to emails about boogeymen in our collective closets - fears of the new and unknown - that never turn out to be the monsters they were feared to be.
Please feel free to forward this to any and everyone you think would find it useful. Maybe we could tamp down the irrational fear and start getting people informed on the real threats to their privacy. :)
