Industry Leaders and Privacy Commissioner to Map Way for Smart Grid Privacy

By Rajani Baburajan, TMCnet Contributor

Smart grid players Hydro One, GE, IBM (News - Alert) (News - Alert) and Telvent, along with Ann Cavoukian, Ontario information and privacy commissioner, released a report showing the way forward for utilities to embed privacy into the emerging smart grid.

The new guidance document, based on a cutting-edge smart grid project in Owen Sound in Ontario, Canada, demonstrates how the principles of Privacy by Design -- the gold standard for privacy -- may be operationalized as a foundational requirement in emerging Smart Grid systems. The report shows how Privacy by Design works, from the ground up.

At this week’s ITEXPO East 2011, smart grid technologies were discussed during the Smart Grid Summit, which helped attendees understand the role that IP communications technologies will play in how the Smart Grid evolves – not just for making utilities more efficient, but also for enabling the Smart Home and a new generation of communications innovations.

Industry veterans, including Jon Arnold (News - Alert), founder of Intelligent Communication Partners, Larry Karisny, VP of business development for WirelessWall, and Tony Flick, principal at FYRM Associates and author of Securing the Smart Grid, shared their smart grid insights on stage to a full audience.

“Smart Grid technologies have the potential to collect extremely detailed information about energy consumption in the home, which can lead to the unwelcome profiling of individuals,” said Cavoukian. “The time to build privacy into the systems involved is now, while the Smart Grid is still in its infancy.”

The way forward approach outlined in the report sets the gold standard for utilities and vendors as they work to build consumer confidence into the Smart Grid by protecting personal information that may be collected or used through Smart Grid technologies.

The report shows how personal information can be limited to the domains where it is relevant, and outlines examples of specific design requirements for minimizing and protecting personal information while achieving full system functionality.

“Privacy is the foundation of a trusting relationship with our customers,” said Laura Formusa, president and CEO, Hydro One, in a statement. “By considering privacy at the inception stage of creating the Smart Grid, we can ensure our customer's faith in the technology, in the tools and in our company.”

According to John McDonald (News - Alert) (News - Alert), director, Technical Strategy & Policy Development, GE Energy - Digital Energy, consumer acceptance is key to the success of smart grid. McDonald also finds that privacy is a top concern among consumers.The Privacy by Design solutions help utilities ensure privacy for their customers. Many countries are embarking on modernizing their electricity systems to build a cleaner and more secure energy future.

Meanwhile the U.S. smart grid market is projected to grow more than 70 percent, from $5.6 billion in 2010 to $9.6 billion by 2015, according toGTM Research’s report titled the U.S. Smart Grid Market Forecast: 2010–2015.

(source: http://smart-grid.tmcnet.com/topics/smart-grid/articles/141555-industry-leaders-privacy-commissioner-map-way-smart-grid.htm)