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Smart Meters – Big Brother In The Home

As the British government controversially moves ahead with its plan to introduce 53 million electricity and gas ‘smart meters’ across the UK by 2019, more than a million have already been deployed in the UK, which is beginning to raise privacy concerns.

Smart meters monitor energy consumption and communicate wirelessly with energy providers. In 2009 a European Commission Directive made it a requirement that 80% of European homes have a smart meters installed by 2020.

There are also plans to introduce smart water meters.

Smart meters replace analog meters and are designed to send utility use in real time. They essentially create a home network which collects sensitive personal information, including what devices are being used, when and how they are being used by communicating with appliances, even if they are not ‘smart’ devices, and then send that data back to energy providers.

Besides the invasive nature of the meters, campaigners also fear that energy companies can control energy consumption and remotely switch off utilities. In fact, anybody with an Internet connection and the technical know-how can do so.

Speaking on BCFM drive time, Mike Mitcham of the Stop Smart Meters campaign, cited a recent case where hackers in Germany proved the security of smart meters to be incredibly poor, allowing them to can record information what about which TV programme or film someone is watching on a non-smart television.

“This is basically putting our energy and utility supply onto the Internet.”

The data is sent through pulsed microwaves, including 3G and 4G networks and the potential health hazards of sending thousands of pulses per day has been ignored.

Also on the show, David Saunders of Bristol Power, a former industrial chemist who defended the use of smart meters, did however agree that the campaign against smart meters do have a valid point, in some cases.

“I don’t disagree with any argument about pollution. I know about industrial chemicals in our foods and they contribute to cancer just as much as microwave radiation.”

He maintains that smart meters could be used to undermine the energy cartel through the use of solar power, but conceded that in the wrong hands the technology could become Orwellian.

Speaking to RINF, show host Tony Gosling said:

“Smart meters are being introduced in an unregulated free-for all so it’s up to all of us to be vigilant to check whether they are both safe and good for society – Smart Meters fail on almost every count – just as the police and regulators have failed to prosecute any of the Big Six energy companies for defrauding the public of millions of pounds.”

http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/sma...ome/31378/

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If I have one fitted its being shrouded in foil...... microwave radiate me my arse...

I wonder if those mobile phone jammers you can buy on those "dodgy" sites will work in scrambling the info they send.

Tin foil around the antenna works fine. Phone jammers target specific frequencies and these are different frequencies.

(7 April 2013, 13:03)Skean Dhude Wrote: [ -> ]Tin foil around the antenna works fine. Phone jammers target specific frequencies and these are different frequencies.

Cheers SD
bit of a daft question here but serious
does it matter if tinfoil is shiny side in or out

Nope.

cut the antennae off. it was vandals.

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it snapped.
the kids accidentally must have done it.
ive no idea , I never noticed it missing etc.

I think we'll be taking as much stuff off the grid as we can. Phones can be charged from a car battery with a solar panel on it. Just add a cigarette lighter socket to the battery and add the adjoining charger to it, and you're golden. We also have 2 Freeloader Pico's to charge phones and the alike.

Might be getting some more panels, hopefully by the time it gets to the smart-meter readers. They'll just think we use electricity for the heating, but we're getting a log burner (if it's viable with our flue/chimney bit) in the next few months. So we should be able to have about 90% of stuff off the grid. Only the fridge and kettle will still be on the grid haha. By then laptops should be off the grid as well.

(7 April 2013, 13:03)Skean Dhude Wrote: [ -> ]Tin foil around the antenna works fine. Phone jammers target specific frequencies and these are different frequencies.

They're also illegal are they not?

Yup, tin foil works perfectly. Stopped the GPS on the works van from highlighting my location and various driving infractions too.

They probably are Beardy Man, isn't everything.

(8 April 2013, 11:27)Tartar Horde Wrote: [ -> ]They probably are Beardy Man, isn't everything.

Most of the fun things!

I looked into signal blockers etc in my fight against paying for the TV license. I proposed to block out the BBC frequencies from the signal (that I didn't want to receive anyway) but turns out blocking any sort of signal like that is illegal.

Easy to do, but illegal. One way round it is to pump out your own signal on the same frequency, but then you need some decent equipment (and probably a license!) and forgiving neighbours! Although if it's on the 3g / 4g network then you're going to be hobbling your own comms (mobile phone)