Fast Company: Could Recycling Invade Your Privacy?

Could recycling invade your privacy? In short, the answer is yes!
An article by Anya Kamenetz ("Attack of the Green-Tech Geeks"), in this month's Fast Company, discusses several technologies used to quantify--and improve--"green" living. While environmentally useful such technology may fundamentally alter life as we know it.

The technology targets large municipalities and other corporate types that need to predict energy usage but it has a broader affect on residential consumers. According to the article: "Thirty five years of studies about home energy show that simply seeing the impact of your behavior in real time cuts consumption by %5 to %15."

That said, Agilewaves offers a product that is installed in homes, by homeowners, to monitor energy use, including water, electricity and natural gas. The information can be accessed in real time by customers and details such measures as whether clients showered during peak energy periods.

Take for instance a vacationing family. The system would detail zero, or significantly reduced, use of water, electricity and gas. A hacker might find this information useful for, say, throwing a house party, if not staging a robbery. A lot of private information would be chronicled and archived via such technology, including behavior patterns, say, when a family eats dinner or how long they spend online or in front of the TV. Were such information to be sold, and I'm not saying it will, it would prove advantageous to a variety of marketers.

Though you might find the ability to monitor your household's energy use via Blackberry a money saving tool, you should remember to keep in mind that you are not the only one privy to this information. Take the technology developed by RecycleBank for instance. The company sells its technology to your city, who then embeds chips into your trash and recycling bins. These chips measure the amount of refuse you produce and how much you recycle. Trash and recycling trucks are also equipped with readers that transmit the chip's data to a remote server. There, an algorithm converts the weight of your trash and recycling into points and measures things like your carbon foot print. Sure you can log in and view this information, but it could also be used to hike your rate or fine you for producing too much waste.

The kicker is, the trash and recycling companies don't have to ask your permission to install the chips! Environmentally sound may not always sound acceptable to those who value their privacy.