No tin hat here
British Gas offered me a smart meter. Didn't cost anything (directly) so I went for it.
Now don't have an annoying guy with a lanyard appearing at the door each quarter.
Get daily utilisation stats instead of quarterly.
Daughter can visibly see the impact of leaving the front door open (on the gas/heating usage)
I pay my bill on time by DD so have no concern about getting cut off by someone in a control room in Swindon.
If someone fat-fingers a disconnection, I'll call up and report it like any other power outage.
Once domestic appliances can participate in load management, I know I'll be doing my bit to reduce the need for large coal power stations to provide the peak capacity buffers.
Really don't see what all the paranoia is about. Just my 2p...