Privacy Preservation in Smart Meters: Current Status, Challenges and Future Directions

Recent years have seen the rapid development of technologies in Smart Grids (SGs) to enhance electricity networks with digital and data communication technologies. SGs can proactively detect, react, and respond to dynamic changes in the network. SGs can also enhance the efficiency and reliability of electricity supplies and promote the integration of renewable energy sources. Smart Meters (SMs) are often seen as the first step to a successful implementation of SGs. While SMs enable Utility Providers and consumers to obtain near real-time information of energy consumption, they can also be exploited to infer sensitive consumer data. Therefore, privacy preservation in SMs is paramount in ensuring the widespread and successful deployment of SGs. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of the state-of-the-art SM privacy-preserving techniques published in the literature over the past decade. We categorize these techniques based on the attack types and their objectives. We aim to offer a unique perspective in this survey article through the lens of privacy preservation, cross-cutting the wide range of techniques presented in the literature. We conclude by identifying the challenges and highlighting key future research directions in the field.

Automated summary

The rapid development of Smart Grid technologies in recent years has increased the efficiency and reliability of electricity networks and promoted the integration of renewable energy sources. Smart Meters are considered the first step towards successful implementation of Smart Grids. However, the privacy of consumer data collected by Smart Meters is of paramount importance. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of privacy-preserving techniques for Smart Meters published in the past decade, categorizing them based on attack types and objectives. The paper offers a unique perspective on the wide range of techniques presented in the literature, and concludes by identifying challenges and future research directions in the field.