Most of us do it... We hear an interesting contact on CB or Amateur Radio, make a video and post it on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter etc.
But it it legal? Are there any privacy issues?
As many of you will know following several months of poor conditions, there was a some nice propagation yesterday (28/12/19) on the 10/11m bands. Myself, along with hundreds of others recorded conversations and general propagation and posted videos online, something I've certainly done many times over the years.
One of my videos featured a local Amateur Radio operator talking to a station in Poland on 28MHz and on this occasion the station in question wasn't too happy about having their conversation posted online and demanded that I remove the video immediately. Being the kind and considerate chap that I am, I did as I was asked as a matter of courtesy to the station in question.
This got me thinking... Are there any legal complications in posting recordings of CB or Amateur Radio conversations online?
I've always believed that due to CB and Amateur Radio being 'public services' which are meant for general reception by short wave listeners and other radio users, the moment you key your microphone you lose any rights to privacy and therefore cannot expect that your conversation will be kept 'private'. It therefore would follow that recording conversations and posting them online does not pose any legal problems in respect of privacy issues....
I have had look around online and most of the information I have found on this matter does support my feeling that post recordings online is legal and operators do not have the right to ask for recordings to be removed, however I have been unable to locate any official information which could clarify this issue.
So, does anyone out there have a link to information which could clear this matter up from a legal perspective? It's an interesting topic and something I've not thought seriously about before.....
Hi. To sum it up, in general, it is not legal to post conversations, images, videos of anyone without their express consent. You can find more information on this in the Official Journal of the European Union: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679&from=EN Saludos cordiales
ReplyDeleteIt is also against licence conditions to rebroadcast an amateur transmission. It also comes under the law of misuse of communications.
ReplyDeleteUnder section 14 of the Amateur licence conditions (https://bit.ly/351h3qY) only the licensee has the right to post or redistribute any QSO's.
ReplyDeletehope this helps.
Amateur radio licence conditions only apply to amateur radio operators and the operation of an amateur radio station, they have nothing to do with the reception of radio signals by, for example, shortwave listeners or CB radio users
DeleteThis has been taken from ofcom licensing conditions.
ReplyDelete14 Recorded or retransmitted Messages
14(1) The Licensee may record and retransmit Messages addressed to the Licensee
received from other Amateurs:
(a) with whom the Licensee is in direct communication; or
(b) which are intended for retransmission to a specified Amateur.
14(2) When recording and retransmitting the Message of another Amateur, if the Licensee also
records and retransmits the Callsign of that Amateur, then the Licensee shall transmit the
Callsign in such a way that the origin of the Message and the origin of the retransmission are
clear.
Irrelevant to shortwave radio listeners or cb radio operators?
Delete14 Recorded or retransmitted Messages
ReplyDelete14(1) The Licensee may record and retransmit Messages addressed to the Licensee
received from other Amateurs:
(a) with whom the Licensee is in direct communication; or
(b) which are intended for retransmission to a specified Amateur.
14(2) When recording and retransmitting the Message of another Amateur, if the Licensee also
records and retransmits the Callsign of that Amateur, then the Licensee shall transmit the
Callsign in such a way that the origin of the Message and the origin of the retransmission are
clear.
Record away. The transmissions are never meant to be private, indeed they are officially classed as broadcasts.
If a transmission is meant to be private then use face to face communications.
You can also retransmit the recording to a specified license, but it doesn't clarify exactly who that specified person is, or who decides which licensee it should be retransmitted to.
As for posting it on a blog, I have listened to transmissions from the ISS, from Santa and reposted them on my blog, Facebook and YouTube. I'm not being dragged behind Santa's sleigh having my eyeballs tickled with holly, being made to scream in space or having a nice friendly chat with seal team six.
This also seems to confirm that it's ok as there is no way a CB or Ham Radio operator could consider their conversation private when they willingly broadcast it to the world...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.onlinespyshop.co.uk/blog/is-it-legal-record-conversation-popular-legal-myths/
I dont know why you are quoting a source other than the issuing authority for reference. The regulations are as pointed out to you but feel free to continue with your posting against the laws set out and post your callsign along with it so we can have you contacted by the relevant authorities.
ReplyDeleteThing is, this has very little if anything to do with amateur radio licence regulations as you don't need to be licenced to listen to public transmissions. I would have thought that general privacy/data laws would be more applicable in this case.
DeleteWhat you were doing was retransmitting an amateur conversation on 10m band. And unless you dont know that is an amateur frequency not a citizen band frequency. Also i presume that you dont know the laws on misuse of communications. If so i suggest that you read them thoroughly and understand them. Also as you are an amatuer licence holder i suggest you re read your conditions and abide by them especially being an M0. There is a few videos you have broadcast in thw past that break rules and i suggest you cease to posting amateur transmissions. Failure will result in a complaint to ofcom with a record of all transmissions you have rebroadcast.
ReplyDeleteApart from which what do you get out of broadcasting videos on youtube? It is sad and boring and if your making money from this then i wonder if the tax office is aware of you avoiding tax.
Failure to comply will result in a complaint to ofcom .. ?? By who. If it’s your self very sad think and if you find video posts boring then don’t watch them ... 73 from me by the way you must be 5-9 to me others are 5/5 and some 30over ...
DeleteWe may be on cross purposes here.
ReplyDeleteSay Mr Smith is a a shortwave listener who enjoys listening to amateur radio and CB radio conversations. Occasionally he records them and posts videos onto YouTube. How has he contravened amateur radio licensing conditions? He's not a licensed operator so those rules do not apply to him surely?