It was always pretty obvious that "smart meters" would have severe repercussions for privacy, but until it started actually being a problem seemingly everyone dismissed such concerns as being in the same category of far-out conspiracy theory as worrying that they're a health risk due to radiation. Some still do. Humanity has so little common sense when it comes to things involving computers.

The Ontario government has had a few initiatives to push smart thermostats and my area just had our water meters upgraded to smart ones. I know nothing about the water meters, but I block the Google telemetry from my Nest Thermostat (unrelated to the gov't program) via my pi-hole at least. By definition, if you sign on to the Enbridge thermostat initiative you are agreeing to send your usage. Not really sure of the impacts of this article on Canada, but pretty chilling nonetheless!

Incredibly dark. That's a harrowing read. Why do UK citizens allow this? I had always seen them as a mix of 'ard' and 'smart as hell'. But this. This just shames them.