California Power Spies: How Sacramento’s Electric Snooping Shocks Privacy Rights
Sacramento’s power company seems to think your air conditioning is a criminal mastermind! For years, they’ve been snooping on energy data, flagging anything above 2,800 kWh as suspicious. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is fighting back against this “high-energy” witch hunt, particularly targeting Asian customers. Time to unplug the lamps before they call the cops!
Hot Take:
Looks like SMUD has been a bit too “amped” about catching cannabis growers, flipping the switch on privacy rights and leaving citizens feeling “powerless” and “shocked.” Maybe they should have just stuck to holiday light competitions rather than surveillance!
Key Points:
- SMUD, Sacramento’s power company, has been tipping off police about high electricity usage, leading to wrongful accusations.
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is fighting back, seeking a court order to stop this surveillance practice.
- The threshold for what constitutes “high” energy usage has drastically decreased over the years.
- Asian residents have been disproportionately targeted by these power data-driven suspicions.
- California law protects consumer energy data, making SMUD’s actions potentially illegal.
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