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Data protection in the energy and environment sector

Importance of data protection for the energy industry

The importance of data protection for the energy industry is rising sharply due to increasing digitalization. Energy suppliers in particular are among the pioneers of digitalization. Many of them, but also other companies in the energy and environmental sector, are corporations or large enterprises. Since they are subject to particularly comprehensive data protection rules, this makes the implementation of the Data protection processes and measures long.

As a general rule, companies in these sectors, like all other companies, must ensure the protection of the personal data of their employees, customers and partners, and comply with the rules of the GDPR such as the extensive documentation and accountability obligations. Utilities like to use service providers, so the associated lawful commissioned processing is important. The right to data portability must also be observed.

Who individual-related data must store it in an interoperable format so that it can be transferred to third parties at the request of the data subject, for example consumption data when switching suppliers. Since many areas of the energy industry have not yet used uniform data formats that meet this requirement, there is an urgent need for action here. IT security must also be continuously addressed, especially by companies that provide critical infrastructure such as energy and water supply or wastewater disposal.

Big Data Analytics in Utilities

When it comes to the use of Big Data Analytics, utilities are relatively advanced compared to the rest of the industry, according to IT consultant Capgemini. Big data analyses will play a role, especially for new services and offers for the smart home and the smart city. However, at the time of data collection, it is often not yet known what further benefits the data will bring to the company in the future. Users should therefore examine to what extent data can be made so anonymous that it does not fall under strict data protection requirements. To the Wiki article anonymous data.

Legally compliant data protection is essential for companies in the energy and environmental industry. In the event of a breach, there are high risks of fines and liability.

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Important innovations in the energy and environmental sector

There are two important innovative developments in the industry for end customers, namely the expansion of the smart meter infrastructure and the increasing number of smart home applications.

The smart meter rollout is taking place under legally prescribed framework conditions that include protection profiles of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), technical guidelines and certification regulations in which Data protection and data security are a core component. So far, however, the BSI has only given the green light for the smart meter gateway of a single manufacturer.

An important special regulation for smart meters is the Metering Point Operation Act (MSBG). It lays the foundation for the use of measurement data from modern measuring devices and intelligent systems and formulates the minimum technical requirements for this. The MSBG and the associated protection profiles and technical guidelines embody the principle of privacy by design. It regulates which actor may receive which data for which purpose and when received data must be deleted. Mandatory data transmission is only provided for those applications that are absolutely necessary for the energy industry, such as billing for electricity consumption.

Since smart metering provides insights into the way consumers live, it is a sensitive issue for data protectionists. In contrast, data protection and security are not yet a priority for smart home applications. In sales, customer experience and benefits currently dominate here. Read more about this in the blog post Smart Home and privacy.