For Privacy’s Sake: Consumer “Opt Outs” for Smart Meters

This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by the Authors and published by Elsevier. It can be found at: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/computer-law-and-security-review/Smart meters are being installed in consumers’ homes as both Europe and the United States move to the smart grid of intelligent energy networks. Yet not all homeowners are willing recipients and some demand to “opt out”. When balancing consumer privacy and data protection rights with the important societal benefits to be obtained from smart meters, should opt outs be allowed? If so, what should a smart meter opt out mechanism look like? Further, may consumers be charged additional fees for the privilege of opting out without violating their privacy and data protection rights? The EU/U.S. comparative law analysis provided in this paper aims to help energy suppliers and regulators craft opt out mechanisms to protect individual privacy and data protection rights while also achieving important societal benefits from smart meters