The Department of Energy and Climate Change says third-party companies will not be able to access consumer smart meter data without their consent, Out-Law.com reports. "Consumers should be able easily to access their own smart metering energy consumption data, and share it with third parties, should they choose to," said the department in its consultation on data access and privacy for its smart meter implementation program. The department says safeguards will be put in place to verify that the person granting third parties access to data is valid. "This information is useful to energy suppliers, but it is also potentially valuable to a whole host of other organizations, too," said one expert.
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