On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 2:20 PM, Tony B <[email protected]> wrote: > Wow, maybe in Paranoia-land this is an issue, but there is no way in heck > anyone could figure out when I wake up from my power usage. Or much else > around here.
Perhaps not in your case, perhaps not in many other cases. However, electric power consumption can closely parallel much of human behavior in the home, particularly if electric service provides most of the fuel that operates the various devices in the home. It is probable that your electric usage remains somewhat static at night if you are sleeping, but spiking and declining periodically as heat or AC units or water heaters cycle on and off. Those are large fluctuations, easily discernible from lighting or small appliance use. Mornings upon waking will usually yield an increase in usage, which will then decline again as persons vacate to go to work, but with some heavier spikes and declines as environmental control devices continue to go on and off. Returning home from work can continue those spikes and declines, but other electric usage such as lights and TV and cooking will be detectable, and can provide evidence of human presence in a dwelling. Again, the samplings of use can be set to take place moment to moment, not hourly or more, thus allowing for quite accurate timing of fluctuations in power consumption. Add this type of information to location information obtained from your cell phone, your credit or debit card usage as you buy gasoline or other things, that discount card at the grocery store, along with a myriad of other sources, and it becomes apparent that anyone with access to such data can paint a fairly accurate picture of your comings and goings. A number of privacy advocacy organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, are requesting that rules and regulations relative to the protection of personal privacy be devised to prevent this new technology from becoming part of the arsenal of data that is swirling about and it up for grabs by whomever can pay for it. > Would it benefit a burglar > to know that I wake up between 5 and 6 am? How? Hell, yes. Especially if such information can help the burglar determine when you leave for work, assuming that you do, and your home is vacant. What is the name of that new website? Pleaserobme,com? Steve ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
