Data privacy and residential smart meters: Comparative analysis and harmonization potential

Building on privacy principles of the Fair Information Practice Principles and the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, the study compares national policies and programs in Europe and North America and identifies prevailing practices for implementing privacy goals for residential energy customers: customer opt-out policies, sampling and sharing guidelines, independent data storage, and governmental enforcement authority. The analysis provides the basis for privacy standards that could apply to advanced-metering customer data across countries, even with rapidly evolving technology.

Automated summary

Based on privacy principles such as Fair Information Practice Principles and EU's General Data Protection Regulation, the study compares national policies in Europe and North America, identifying common practices for implementing privacy goals for residential energy customers. The analysis provides basis for privacy standards that can apply to advanced-metering customer data across countries, even with rapidly evolving technology.