Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On April 20, 2014, Hunton & Williams partner Paul M. Tiao was featured on Platts Energy Week discussing the importance of the homeland security partnership between electric utility companies and the U.S. government. In the feature, “U.S. Utilities Wary of Sharing Grid Risks,” Tiao talked about the recent leak to The Wall Street Journal of a sensitive internal memo at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that revealed potential vulnerabilities in the electricity grid. Tiao said that many utility companies want to work with federal agencies to protect homeland security ...

The recent leak of an internal memo to the former Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which was widely reported by national news media, has created a national security setback for the United States. Many are concerned that the disclosure may provide terrorists and other bad actors a roadmap for causing a prolonged nationwide blackout. Perhaps more importantly, the leak undermines the relationship of trust between industry and government agencies that the parties have been working for years to establish; a relationship that is vital to developing a stronger security ...

On November 19, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission held a workshop in Washington, D.C. to discuss The Internet of Things: Privacy & Security in a Connected World. FTC Chair Edith Ramirez and FTC Senior Attorney Karen Jagielski provided the opening remarks. Chairwoman Ramirez raised three key issues for workshop participants to consider:

On April 22, 2013, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) adopted an Opinion on the proposed data protection impact assessment template for smart grid and smart metering systems (“DPIA Template”). Expert Group 2 of the European Commission’s Smart Grid Task Force submitted the DPIA Template to the Working Party following the European Commission’s March 9, 2012 recommendation regarding preparation for the roll-out of smart metering systems.

On April 4, 2011, the Article 29 Working Party (the “Working Party”) issued an Opinion to clarify the legal framework applicable to smart metering technology in the energy sector (the “Opinion”).

Smart meters are digital meters that record energy consumption and enable two-way remote communication with the wider network for purposes such as monitoring and billing, and to forecast energy demand.  Smart meters are intended to allow the industry to better regulate energy supply, and to help individuals reduce consumption.  According to the Working Party, however, the analysis and exchange of smart metering information has the potential to be privacy-invasive.

On October 5, 2010, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) released a report entitled “Data Access and Privacy Issues Related to Smart Grid Technologies.”  The idea behind the Smart Grid is that electricity can be delivered more efficiently using data collected through monitoring consumers’ energy use.  In connection with the preparation of its report, the DOE surveyed industry, state and federal practices with respect to Smart Grid technologies, focusing on the issue of residential consumer data security and privacy.  The DOE noted that advanced meters or “smart meters” were a focal point of the report due to their “ability to measure, record and transmit granular individual consumption.”  That said, a Smart Grid consists of “hundreds of technologies and thousands of components, most of which do not generate data relevant to consumer privacy.”