SmartPrivacy for the Smart Grid – Embedding Privacy into the Design of Electricity Conservation
Given the level of detail and the potential sensitivity of the information involved, strong protection and enhanced consumer trust are key to the successful implementation of the Smart Grid.9
If the Smart Grid
becomes synonymous with privacy breaches and data leakage, the development of the Smart Grid may grind to a halt.
Technologies, designs and processes that fully support trust must be built into the Smart Grid now, in its early, nascent stages.10
Bolting on
protections at a later date will not only be more costly and difficult, but may be too late, when trust in the system has already been lost. What the Smart Grid needs, therefore, is SmartPrivacy, and it needs it now.
SmartPrivacy for the Smart Grid
SmartPrivacy is a term I use to refer to a broad arsenal of protections that encapsulate all the necessary elements to ensure that the personal information held by any organisation is appropriately managed. It includes:
• law, regulation and independent oversight;
• accountability and transparency; • market forces; • education and awareness; • social norms; • data security; and • fair information practices.
While each of these elements is important, Privacy by Design (PbD) represents the sine qua non – the most essential feature. PbD is an approach to incorporating privacy into the design and operation of technology, operational systems, work processes, management structures and networked infrastructure.
Over the years, a zero-sum paradigm has prevailed – one in which privacy has competed with other values, such as security, in a zero-sum ‘win–lose’ equation. The logic of this flawed approach is that in order
Smart Grid technologies will produce significant efficiencies in both cost and energy throughout the electrical distribution system, providing greater consumer control.
to protect ourselves from the threat of terrorism, for example, society must forfeit some measure of privacy. However, this notion is based on the false dichotomy that privacy and security are mutually opposing, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.
Privacy can and must co-exist alongside functionality, operational efficiency, organisational control, security and usability in a positive- sum, not zero-sum, manner. Clearly, there are a number of important and necessary uses of personal information in the context of the Smart Grid. Without diminishing the benefits of the Smart Grid, it is possible to design privacy directly into it by making it the default in all aspects of the system.
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does it offer remedies for resolving privacy infractions once they have occurred – it aims to prevent them from occurring. In short, PbD comes before the fact, not after it.
Privacy as the Default
We can all be certain of one thing – the default rules. PbD seeks to deliver the maximum degree of privacy by ensuring that personal data are automatically protected in any given information technology (IT) system or business practice. If an individual does nothing, his/her privacy still remains intact. No action is required on the part of the individual to protect his/her privacy – it is built into the system by default.
Privacy Embedded into Design
PbD is embedded into the design and architecture of IT systems and business practices. It is not bolted on as an add-on after the fact. The result is that privacy becomes an essential component of the core functionality being delivered. Privacy is integral to the system without diminishing functionality.
Full Functionality – Positive-sum, not Zero-sum PbD seeks to accommodate all legitimate interests and objectives in a positive-sum, ‘win–win’ manner, not through a dated, zero-sum approach in which unnecessary trade-offs are made. PbD avoids the pretence of false dichotomies, such as privacy versus security, demonstrating that it is possible to have both.
End-to-end Life-cycle Protection
PbD, having been embedded into the system prior to the first element of information being collected, extends throughout the entire life- cycle of the data involved from start to finish. This ensures that at the end of the process all data are securely destroyed in a timely fashion. Thus, PbD ensures cradle-to-grave, end-to-end life-cycle management of information.
Visibility and Transparency
PbD seeks to assure all stakeholders that whatever the business practice or technology involved, it is in fact operating according to the stated promises and objectives subject to independent verification. Its
MODERN ENERGY REVIEW – VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2
PbD is the roadmap for getting there. It is built on seven foundational principles that capture and distill the essence of effective privacy protection, as outlined below.
Proactive not Reactive; Preventative not Remedial The PbD approach is characterised by proactive rather than reactive measures. It anticipates and prevents privacy-invasive events before they happen. PbD does not wait for privacy risks to materialise, nor
Technologies, designs and processes that fully support trust must be built into the Smart Grid now, in its early, nascent stages.
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