| Abstrakt: |
Electric smart meters are touted by energy experts as incredibly helpful tools for increasing the responsiveness and efficiency of the electricity grid by predicting consumer usage in a real time manner. However, real time responses require real time reporting, meaning that smart meters are documenting the movements and activities of every consumer connected to them. Whether someone prefers to take a shower at night, whether they were home on a particular day, or even what movie they were watching a year ago--this information is readily accessible to any trained eye with access to a consumer's smart meter data, and law enforcement agencies are taking notice of its potentially limitless benefits in criminal cases. As smart meters become more ubiquitous, Fourth Amendment concerns are heightened. In 2018, the Seventh Circuit addressed this burgeoning sphere of privacy concerns in Naperville Smart Meter Awareness v. City of Naperville. The court acknowledged that smart meter data collection by a government-run utility constitutes a search--but a reasonable one, nevertheless. This Recent Development argues that the Seventh Circuit both downplayed the invasiveness of electric smart meter data and its potential criminal implications and overlooked significant Supreme Court precedent by failing to address the fact that smart meter data encroaches on the most protected sphere in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence--the home. Additionally, the Seventh Circuit's other fundamental flaw was dismissing an element of smart meter data collection that makes it particularly dangerous--its ability to collect hundreds of thousands of data points over time, providing those who access the data a wealth of information otherwise unknowable via any other traditional search tool. This Recent Development asserts that these oversights were critical. The nature of smart meter data collection embodies some of the most fundamental concerns in Fourth Amendment privacy jurisprudence. The sheer invasiveness of unfettered data access warrants a bright-line rule against individualized, granular data collection by government agencies--including government-owned utilities--absent a warrant or consent. Importantly, this solution poses minimal burdens on government-run utilities, as there are various tools available to protect consumer privacy without compromising grid resiliency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
