How end users perceive their energy data within the spectrum of personal information: A two-stage clustering approach

Flexibility in the energy system, which is needed due to the increasing proportion of decentralized and fluctuating renewable energy sources, remains limited until end users adopt digital energy services. These services require both energy data and further personal information for their operation, a setting that raises privacy concerns among end users. This paper addresses this issue by investigating the perceptions of 604 individuals of different information types regarding risk, sensitivity and willingness to share. A two-stage hierarchical clustering approach highlights the particular role of energy data within this spectrum of personal information and profiles different end user segments, aiming to provide crucial insights into existing privacy concerns of end users. The results show that smart meter data is perceived as more sensitive than other energy data, reaching a level comparable to that of social interaction data. In this regard, it can be expected that at most about 20% of the end users are willing to share their energy data. Demand side actions need to increasingly focus on fluctuating electricity production as well as demand side energy consumption for heating or individual devices. These insights are essential for designing and using digital energy services in a manner that minimizes privacy concerns and enhances the availability of household energy data and thus the provision of flexibility.