Federal Judge: Customers are ‘deemed to have consented’ to smart meter privacy invasions due to continued electricity usage

In July we reported on the ruling by a Federal judge for the Naperville, Illinois smart meter lawsuit.  In the article we stated that the judge “denied an unreasonable search and invasion of privacy claim in the case of the City of Naperville v. Naperville Smart Meter Awareness (NSMA) group, thereby condoning Fourth Amendment violations of the U. S. Constitution.”

In his ruling, the judge acknowledged that “smart meters are capable of capturing discrete details of behavior” but stated that since “NSMA has failed to allege that the City is actually collecting and using the data … to analyze the private lives of its residents, there is no cognizable claim upon which relief can be granted.”

So based upon this judge’s reasoning, it is acceptable to invade your privacy by collecting massive amounts of data about what goes on in your home as long as you cannot prove the government utility, in this case, actually used the information for other than billing purposes.