title: Privacy, technology, and norms: the case of Smart Meters.
abstract: Norms shift and emerge in response to technological innovation. One such innovation is Smart Meters - components of Smart Grid energy systems capable of minute-to-minute transmission of consumer electricity use information. We integrate theory from sociological research on social norms and privacy to examine how privacy threats affect the demand for and expectations of norms that emerge in response to new technologies, using Smart Meters as a test case. Results from three vignette experiments suggest that increased threats to privacy created by Smart Meters are likely to provoke strong demand for and expectations of norms opposing the technology and that the strength of these normative rules is at least partly conditional on the context. Privacy concerns vary little with actors' demographic characteristics. These findings contribute to theoretical understanding of norm emergence and have practical implications for implementing privacy protections that effectively address concerns of electricity users.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Washington State University, United States. Electronic address: chorne@wsu.edu.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Horne
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Washington State University, United States.
authors.forename: Brice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Darras
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Washington State University, United States.
authors.forename: Elyse
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bean
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, United States.
authors.forename: Anurag
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Brown University, United States.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frickel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D003219:Confidentiality; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004560:Electricity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018907:Privacy; D066262:Social Norms; D013672:Technology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Privacy; Smart Meter; Social norm; Technology