Cops scoured energy records,target suspected weed growers,EFF has sued

HELLFIRE

Usual preface, sharing strictly and solely from a security / privacy POV to the exclusion of everything else:

https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/eff_sacramento_energy_lawsuit/
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/07/when-your-power-meter-becomes-tool-mass-surveillance

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has advanced a lawsuit in which it alleges the City of Sacramento misused energy records to accuse residents of growing cannabis, often with disastrous results. … The records that the EFF surfaced in discovery reveal some apparent oddities in methods used by SMUD and SPD. …

On one hand, I can understand from an LE POV to use the tools at hand to hunt the bad guys. On the other hand, when said methods are less about getting actual criminals and targettting biases, etc…

Regards

Somewhat-Reticent

HELLFIRE Like misused Facial Recognition, surveillance is not the issue.
There is NO shortcut to Due Diligence; Cheap & Lazy is as Cheap & Lazy does.

Stembolt

A power utility is reporting suspected pot growers to cops. EFF says that’s illegal

The EFF, citing investigator and SMUD records, said the utility unilaterally analyzes customers’ electricity usage in “painstakingly” detailed increments of every 15 minutes. When analysts identify patterns they deem likely signs of illegal grows, they notify sheriff’s investigators. The EFF said the practice violates privacy protections guaranteed by the federal and California governments and is seeking a court order barring the warrantless disclosures.

broknsymetry

https://broadbandbulletin.com/d/4501-cops-scoured-energy-recordstarget-suspected-weed-growerseff-has-sued

ElQuintron

Merging

egeezer

HELLFIRE
That practice isn’t a new one. It was used in Ohio to spot grow operations some years back.