BC Hydro failed to notify customers who received new smart
meters about how their personal information was being
collected and used, B.C.'s privacy watchdog said Monday.
Elizabeth Denham, B.C.'s
Information and Privacy Commissioner, released a report
assessing the privacy and security of BC Hydro's smart meter
program, stating the Crown corporation is not fully in
compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection
and Privacy Act.
"BC Hydro is required by law to
tell their customers the purpose for collecting personal
information for the smart meters project, what legal
authority they have to do so and to provide contact
information for a BC Hydro employee who can answer any
questions that arise regarding collection," Denham said.
"Hydro is not currently meeting
this requirement, and we've made some recommendations to
help them improve their customer notification."
Denham launched the investigation into the smart meter
program in July after receiving some of 600 complaints and
correspondences from the public about BC Hydro's plan to
replace 1.8 million older meters with so-called smart
meters.
Hacking concerns
The smart meters measure
residents' power consumption by the hour, and then use
wireless signals to relay that information back to BC Hydro.
BC Hydro has said the new
technology will make the province's energy grid more
efficient, sustainable and better able to respond to
outages. BC Hydro also said energy consumption data, which
would be transmitted wirelessly, would be encrypted and
remain both secure and private.
But critics of the program are
concerned that smart meters could be hacked to give away
information that could pose a personal security risk, like
indicating when residents are home and when houses are
empty.
Denham said that hourly power use
updates would reveal patterns of household consumption and
information about customers' daily lives, but said BC Hydro
is taking adequate measures to safeguard this information.
Denham found BC Hydro is in
compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection
and Privacy Act when it comes to the collection, use,
disclosure, protection and retention of the personal
information of its customers.
"It is clear from my investigation
that BC Hydro is taking privacy and security seriously as it
develops a framework for the implementation of smart meters
and a smart grid," Denham said. "But there are areas for
improvement."
Denham's report makes 14
recommendations for BC Hydro to improve privacy and security
practices. She said BC Hydro has committed to create plans
to address these recommendations.
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