JUDGES: SMART METERS ARE 4TH AMENDMENT 'SEARCH', Homes
being invaded by 'ever-more sophisticated technology', by Bob Unruh, 8/26/18,
WND.
Privacy and health activists long have
raised opposition to smart meters – the technological wizards that monitor
power usage in a home, sometimes on a minute-by-minute basis, and report it to
the utility that owns them. And sometimes others.
Now an appeals court has affirmed that
their readings constitute a “search” under the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment,
which establishes “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,
against unreasonable searches and seizures.”
But the judges also found that the
“search” that was done by the devices was “reasonable.”
Whether the judgment is rendered in
future cases regarding the use of the meters, oftentimes mandated by the
utility, remains to be seen.
In this case, it was the Naperville Smart
Meter Awareness organization that sued Naperville, Illinois, over the
meters required by the city-owned utility.
The Electronic Privacy Information
Center said the meters “can reveal personal behavior patterns and enable
real-time surveillance.”
The ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals found the “ever-accelerating pace of technological development
carries serious privacy implications” and “smart meters are no exception.”
The court said the “searches” done by
the meters are reasonable in light of the “cost reductions and service
improvements” provided but suggested the conclusion may not be a final
decision.
“Our conclusion could change” depending
on how much data – and how frequently – the meters send data readings. Or if law enforcement ever were given
easier access.
“EPIC has long warned about the privacy
implications of the smart grid and filed an amicus brief in United States v.
Carpenter, a recent Supreme Court case that recognized Fourth Amendment
protections for cell phone location data,” the organization said.
WND reported only two years ago that James
Clapper – then the director of national intelligence under Barack Obama – said
he believed the government could use the information transmitted to the
internet from a washing machine, thermostat, television, refrigerator or
favorite video game against citizens.
Many of the meters are equipped today
with a computer chip, constantly feeding information about their owners back to
utilities, manufacturers and other data networks.
Clapper told Senate Foreign Relations
Committee at the time the government considers the information fair game
against people it suspects of terrorism or other crimes.
The so-called “internet of things” is
providing a bevy of personal information about Americans, many of whom are
completely unaware of the dragnet they are tied into.
Smart meters measure, in real time, a
homeowner’s electricity usage and what appliance or device the usage is coming
from, feeding the information to the local utility provider. Many televisions
are capable of picking up sound and motion through microphones and motion
sensors.
Laptop computers have built-in cameras.
The 7th Circuit decision pointed to a
previous ruling that found police use of sensors to determine heat emanating
from the home was a search.
“The data collected by Naperville can be
used to draw the exact inference that troubled the court in [that precedent],”
the ruling said. “There, law enforcement ‘concluded that [a home’s occupant]
was using halide lights to grow marijuana in his house’ based on an excessive
amount of energy coming from the home.
“Here too, law enforcement could
conclude that an occupant was using grow lights from incredibly high meter
readings, particular if the power was drawn at odd hours. In fact, the data
collected by Naperville could prove even more intrusive.
“By analyzing the energy consumption of a home
over time in concert with appliance load profiles for grow lights,
Naperville law enforcement could
‘conclude’ that a resident was using the lights with more confidence that those
using thermal imaging could ever hope for.”
The smart meters are not yet in
“general” public use, the ruling said. And technology is changing fast, which
“carries serious privacy implications.” The
meters’ information, “even when collected at 15-minute intervals, reveals
details about the home that would be otherwise unavailable to government officials
[without] a physical search.”
But the judges said, under the
circumstances of the case, the “search” was reasonable, since the collection
was for utility and efficiency goals only.
“Were a city to collect the data at
shorter intervals, our conclusion could change. Likewise, our conclusion might
change if the data was more easily accessible to law enforcement or other city
officials outside the utility.”
In 2012, more than 100 Texans joined
together to petition public utilities regulators to ban the meters because of
their health threats.
One of the case participants explained:
“After decades of study the scientific community and government health related
agencies are warning people to avoid additional exposures to RF and EMF
radiation because it has been linked to many ailments including minor issues,
such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, to life threatening, such as heart
function interference, brain function interference, jamming of
pacemakers and insulin injectors, DNA disruption causing birth defects and even
cancer.”
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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