DCCPP = Privacy by Design. Direct Current Communications & Privacy Protocol (DCCPP) Proposed for a Privacy Protective DC Smart Grid

Abstract

Contemporary society is highly dependent on electricity, specifically on reliable and continuous generation of power. Sustainable generation, using wind and solar energy, is anything but a reliable source. Deployment of these sustainable sources will make our systems more durable and at the same time more vulnerable to disruption. Production and demand are no longer synchronized, and the system needs the ability to balance supply and demand. Energy Grids must become Smart Grids to accommodate for these changes, using Smart Meters that communicate directly with contracted operators and suppliers for balancing and billing purposes.Introducing more information into Energy Grids raises privacy concerns, because information about energy usage allows anyone with that information to reconstruct parts of private life. Further it raises security concerns, because third parties will be able to analyze from the usage patterns whether people are at home or away. Finally, it introduces concerns about data ownership, (un)portability and freedom of choice.We propose a design for a DC-Smart-Grid on the operating system layer. This ‘Smartest’ Grid combines the advantages of DC Grids while addressing these concerns. In the paper key characteristics of this grid are described: embedded communication technology to minimize the exchange of personal data, freedom of choice between available electricity sources, and community ownership for prosumers. We show that a DC-Smart-Grid can be designed such that the minimum information required to maintain a safe and stable grid fulfils the requirements of privacy by design.