From Sam Edge, Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
I couldn't agree more with Paul Marks on the stupidity of “killer kettles” and other internet of things products (24 March, p 24). An example that particularly concerns me is the enthusiasm the UK government and energy companies have for installing “smart” meters.
These are not smart at all – they can simply be read remotely. Current models have repeatedly been shown to be laughably insecure. They risk being infected with malware to create huge “botnets”. Data from them can be used to build profiles of householders' behaviour.
The government and energy companies claim that smart meters will cost us nothing and will provide a valuable service. Despite protestations to the contrary, these meters are entirely designed to reduce costs for the supplier not the customer. I can already read my existing meter whenever I want.
The push to install these devices is a colossal waste of resources that involves replacing millions of perfectly functional meters. A smart meter will consume far more energy than my existing one in order to run its higher-powered processors and a data connection. And it won't be my energy supplier paying for that power – it'll be me.
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