Privacy protection through limited load signal distortion
Nicol, Thomas
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/24158
Description
Title
Privacy protection through limited load signal distortion
Author(s)
Nicol, Thomas
Issue Date
2011-05-25T14:57:01Z
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Overbye, Thomas J.
Department of Study
Electrical & Computer Eng
Discipline
Electrical & Computer Engr
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
privacy
non-intrusive load monitoring
load signal
Abstract
Advanced techniques of Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) can provide
power consumers with opportunities to easily and accurately track their own energy
usage. However, as with any other powerful technology, there is a darker side to NILM.
Since detailed monitoring requires only information about the overall power draw over a
period of time, sources of such information could be used for any number of purposes.
While some legal protections exist for personal information reported to a utility, and
digital defenses make it difficult for unauthorized parties to obtain meter data, such
measures are not infallible. They do nothing to prevent abuse by the utility itself or the
surreptitious installation of a monitoring device outside a residence, place of business,
embassy, etc. Therefore, a method to reduce the ability of attackers to deduce private
information from an observed power signal is proposed, using some knowledge of the
loads being hidden to offset identifiable load signatures in the signal for maximum
ambiguity.
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