Privacy Risks in Resource Constrained Smart Micro-Grids

Abstract

In rural/remote areas, resource constrained smart micro-grid (RCSMG) architectures can offer a cost-effective power management and supply alternative to national power grid connections. RCSMG architectures handle communications over distributed lossy networks to minimize operation costs. However, the unreliable nature of lossy networks makes privacy an important consideration. Existing anonymisation works on data perturbation work mainly by distortion with additive noise. Apply these solutions to RCSMGs is problematic, because deliberate noise additions must be distinguishable both from system and adversarial generated noise. In this paper, we present a brief survey of privacy risks in RCSMGs centered on inference, and propose a method of mitigating these risks. The lesson here is that while RCSMGs give users more control over power management and distribution, good anonymisation is essential to protecting personal information on RCSMGs.