Labeling something “smart” has the automatic implication that it is right and better—when in fact, like the Smart Car, it may be “stupid” (or, at least, have foolish elements).
The April 2012 issue of Consumer Reports has a section titled: “Stopping car crashes with smarter cars,” which focuses on how “talking cars can protect you.” The systems are several steps up from electronic toll collection or the use of drive-by weigh stations favored by truckers. These V2X systems allow cars in the same area to communicate with each other over a wireless network, exchange data about each vehicle’s speed, location, and direction of travel. Consumer Reports admits that “to some this might seem like a Big Brother approach to monitoring driver behavior,” but says: “such a system has the potential to help drivers avoid” crashes. Sounds “smart.” But, Justin Brookman, director of the Consumer Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, points out: “The concern is that once you set up a mechanism to collect data for one admittedly beneficial use, there are no intrinsic limitations on that data being collected retained, transferred, and used for other purposes.”
We’ve recently seen the collection of data being done without consumer approval as in the case against Google and Apple. On January 23, the US Supreme Court ruled that use of a wireless GPS device attached by law enforcement to monitor a vehicle, without a court order as required for wire taps and other types of monitoring the citizenry is unlawful, a violation of the 4th Amendment. Yet, unauthorized data collection is one of the primary concerns facing consumers in states with mandated “smart” meters.
If you live in a state that is not requiring smart meters, you may not know what they are. Smart meters replace your standard analog electric meter with a digital one that can be read from a central office rather than a meter reader visiting your home—thus eliminating hundreds of jobs. President Obama says they are “devices that will have a direct benefit for consumers who want to save money on their electric bills.” They will “Allow you to actually monitor how much energy your family is using”—“even by the hour.” But these smart meters allow others to “monitor” your electricity use as well. Additionally, the next generation of smart meters will probably have controls that let the electric company turn off your electricity at peak times—or, perhaps, if you use too much. Only then, will they actually save any electricity.
Addressing smart meters, Mark Levin, talk show host and author of Liberty and Tyranny and Ameritopia, says: “I don’t need some smart meter telling me when to increase or reduce the heat. We also know when the peak periods are—when we are home! That’s when the peak periods are. Think we are that stupid?” He captures the concern so many feel when he says: “It is there to monitor you and dictate to you.” He concludes, “The less information they have about real American citizens the better.”
Mandatory smart meters have constitutional and statute violations, in that they include unreasonable, invasive networking elements to detect, record, report and exploit private customer energy consumption and other personal information, without receiving prior customer agreement. In response to increasing customer objections to the smart meters, many states are now proposing opt-out programs—often with high fees for the customers who do not cooperate with the plan. Without fully understanding the implications, paid for with taxpayer dollars doled out through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (stimulus funds), thousands of Americans have given up freedoms.
Like the Smart Car, smart meters sound good. The Smart Car does get good gas mileage, but it is dangerous. Smart meters can help manage how energy is used and keep power reliable, therefore keeping customers happy. But smart meters need to be something that people ask for, not something that is forced upon them; something that rewards ratepayers with lower rates for allowing their appliances to be turned off at peak times, not something that charges penalties to opt out.
And we haven’t even touched on the smart grid.
When you hear something being touted as “smart,” beware. Chances are that it is a marketing technique designed to make you think you should have something that is really “stupid.”
Burgundy is the new black. Sixty is the new forty. Smart is the new stupid.
The author of Energy Freedom, Marita Noon serves as the executive director for Energy Makes America Great Inc. and the companion educational organization, the Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE). Together they work to educate the public and influence policy makers regarding energy, its role in freedom, and the American way of life. Combining energy, news, politics, and, the environment through public events, speaking engagements, and media, the organizations’ combined efforts serve as America’s voice for energy.
