Proof Smart Meters Are Being Used to Spy On Us
By Andrew Puhanic
theintelhub.com
September 24, 2012
IF you have ever wondered if your smart meter is being used to spy on you, well now there is proof that governments and private organisations are using data collected from smart meters to spy on you.
Information about power usage, which can be used to identify when a home is being occupied, is being shared with third parties of which includes government agencies, private organisations and off-shore data processing centres.
This unethical breach of privacy was discovered on the website of one of Australia’s largest electricity retailer, Origin Energy.
Electricity customers, who sign up for an online service that provides the account holder with detailed information about their electricity usage, are unwillingly agreeing to share their private information with third parties.
A 496 word Privacy/Consent policy form explicitly states that customers who wish to sign up for the service that provides them with information about their electricity usage, must agree that the following organisations have access to their private data:
- Government authorities
- Electricity installers
- Mail houses
- Data processing analysts
- IT service providers
- Smart energy technology providers
- Debt collection agencies
- Credit reporting agencies
A spokesperson for the electricity company (Origin Energy) responsible for this revelation was recently quoted as saying “the additional information requested about each household adds to the richness of the Origin Smart experience” (Source: The Age).
One private organisation that is being given personal information of Origin Energy customers is Tendril, a self-described consumer engagement application and services provider and an organisation that believes smart grids can help fight climate change.
Alarmingly, Tendril’s own website doesn’t explicitly state how it uses data gathered by its clients and for what purposes the data can and cannot be used for.
What implication this has for Australian residents is unknown.
There has been an overwhelming opposition to the roll-out and installation of smart meters around the world.
Smart Meter opt-out coalitions are present in almost all major municipalities that have smart meters present. Unfortunately, in many municipalities an opt-put option is not available.
The author (Andrew Puhanic) was forced to have a smart meter installed on his property, with the only notice given about the installation being a letter informing the ‘month’ that the smart meter would be installed.
The greatest concern with smart meter data being shared with third parties is the fact that the third-party organisation could easily identify (over time) a pattern of when you do and do not use electricity.
This information could fall into the wrong hands and could be used to determine when your home is un-occupied.
In Australia, the erosion of privacy was escalated further by a new proposal to force internet and telephone companies to retain customer records for more than two years. For more information about this proposal, click here.
Households that are forced to have smart meters installed must be assured that the information their electricity company collects is not shared with third parties.
Ultimately, smart meters are designed to collect information about household electricity usage and now there is proof that electricity companies are openly sharing information collected by smart meters.
So what happens when a tyrannical government or criminal has access to your electricity usage records?
This article originally appeared on the Globalist Report
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Related articles/videos:
- Stop Smart Meters: The Film
- Citizens Rally in Vancouver to Stop Smart Meters
- SmartMeters send almost 10,000 signals a day
- Woman Defends Property Against Smart Meter Invasion
- Power Company to Customer: Smart Meter or No Power at All
Power Company to Customer: Smart Meter or No Power at All [video included]
Nevada Energy Sends Three Armed Men to Disconnect Woman’s Power After She ‘Opts Out’
theintelhub.com
September 16, 2012
Press Release from StopSmartMeters.org
LAS VEGAS- A woman living near Las Vegas has been living without power for more than a month because the electric utility, Nevada Energy, refuses to give its customers the choice to retain an analog style electrical meter.
Mona Orkoulas lives in the mountains outside Las Vegas, Nevada.
For years Mona worked on humanitarian projects in the Middle East: drilling wells, and providing drinkable water and renewable power to remote villages.
Now, it turns out that she may need some humanitarian assistance herself- right here in the USA.
The story begins when Nevada Energy (NVE) installed a ‘smart’ meter on Mona’s bedroom wall in January without permission, or even so much as a few days’ notice. Mona reports that she does not have any prior history of medical issues.
Shortly after NV Energy installed the smart meter, she started experiencing a range of adverse symptoms including headaches and tinnitus. A letter from Mona’s doctor to NV Energy reads:
“Neurological and cardiological findings may be associated with pulsed EMF… I recommend that this patient be allowed to have NVE reinstall an analog meter at her house.”
Mona called the power company, expecting that they would at least send someone out. Months later, frustrated after at least six failed attempts to have NVE address the problem, Mona finally purchased a standard analog meter and had an electrician install it at her residence.
She carefully photographed and recorded the readings on the old and new meter, to be sure that she paid for every kilowatt-hour used.
On August 6th, 2012 at about 10:30am, three men from Nevada Energy, armed with guns, arrived unannounced on her property, removed the analog meter from the socket, took both meters, and left her living without electricity.
Mona was in tears, visibly shaken by the encounter, and recalls asking the men, “Why are you on my property with guns?” Their response: “this is procedure Ma’am.” More than a month later, the lights are still off and Mona hasn’t budged. “They’re not putting that thing back on my house,” she says.
According to Angel de Fazio, of Nevada Stop Smart Meters! who has been on the front lines working to fight NVE’s smart meter program, “Nevada residents only won the right to be placed on the ‘delay list’, not a full ‘opt out’.”
In other words, NVE has a ‘delay list’ you can sign to ‘delay’ your installation date. But if the power company managed to sneak on your property and install a smart meter- even without permission- then your choice is a smart meter or no power at all, as Mona discovered. Even if you have a letter from your doctor.
Now NVE is accusing Mona of tampering with their equipment, which she says is ridiculous, because she gave them plenty of opportunity to remove the problematic smart meter.
“I had no intention of stealing electricity,” she says. “I just wanted the grinding noise and headaches to stop.”
California Penal code defines “tampering” as: “(carrying out)(1) specified acts with the intent to obtain utility services without paying the full charge.” Nevada laws are similar.
For the last month, Mona has been ‘camping’ in her house, unable to use her appliances, lights or hot water.
The laundry that was in the washing machine when they cut her power was locked in, and by the time she could get it out it was totally destroyed by mildew.
The NVE agents came without warning. The power cut has had a devastating effect on her life, she says.
“My business has taken a nosedive since I have had to travel into town to access my e-mails. My computer, fax machine, and printer don’t work. I’m cooking over a camp stove in my living room.”
Mona says “Some of us eat organic foods, buy our nice bottled waters, exercise daily, but where is the point in all of this wellness when we are forced to have a radiation box attached to our homes?”
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Full story, video and photos at: http://stopsmartmeters.org
Stop Smart Meters! has established a Safe Power Fund to help Mona Orkoulas get through the winter. People can donate at: http://stopsmartmeters.org/donate
A video interview in Mona’s darkened home is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh2O6autcMs&sns=em
Woman Defends Property Against Smart Meter Invasion [video included]
Activist Post
July 20, 2012
A Houston area homeowner, Thelma Taormina, was forced to defend her property and her constitutional rights when a utility worker bypassed her “No Trespassing and No Smart Meters” sign, then started a scuffle to install a Smart Meter.
Thelma and her husband demonstrate in the video below that they have educated themselves about the dangers of Smart Meters to their privacy; so much so that they have formed their own local opposition group to ban Texas Smart Meters. It has been revealed that Smart Meters have the capability to wirelessly monitor a full range of personal data, and can be equipped with an automatic shut off. (Source)
The Taorminas also allude to the mounting evidence that these meters are a major health concern, as indicated by a recent warning issued by a major physicians’ group.
Between health and privacy concerns, plus the fact that Smart Meters are an economic and environmental scam, homeowners have every right to defend against Smart Meter slavery in the strongest way possible.
If it takes exercising one’s Second Amendment to protect the Fourth from an out-of-control corporate government hellbent on imposing themselves upon free citizens of a Constitutional Republic, despite repeated verbal demands, then so be it. Thankfully, this incident did not take a turn for the worse, and at least one minion has been put on notice in the most definitive way possible to be very careful where they tread.
Read other articles by Activist Post HERE
You can help increase awareness of Smart Meter dangers by voting on Reddit HERE
Citizens Rally in Vancouver to Stop Smart Meters [video included]
by Damien Gillis
The Agora National
July 4, 2012
A number of citizens and organizations – including the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Clean Energy Foundation – gathered recently in Vancouver at the headquarters of BC Hydro to speak out against BC Liberal government’s Billion-dollar smart meter program. Criticism of smart meters ranges from concerns over expense to taxpayers and ratepayers to serious health threats from electromagnetic radiation. Here are some highlights from the event. To learn more about what you can do, see Citizens for Safe Technology’s Smart Meter Action Kit.
Stop Smart Meters: The Film [video]
YouTube – thebigpitcher11
January 9, 2012
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[H/T: Activist Post]
SmartMeters send almost 10,000 signals a day
by David R. Baker
Pacific Progress
November 4, 2011
Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s wireless SmartMeters are designed to communicate directly with the utility, eliminating the need for meter readers.
Turns out they do a lot of talking.
According to a document PG&E filed with the California Public Utilities Commission this week, the typical meter sends out almost 10,000 radio-frequency signals per day.
The signals are very, very brief. Add them together, and the meter’s total transmission time equals a little more than 45 seconds per day. And the signals’ peak energy level falls well within federal standards, according to a PG&E spokesman.
PN 