[SFDXA] ARRL Urges Denial of Petition to Permit Encryption

[Bill]

ARRL Urges Denial of Petition to Permit Encryption of Some Emergency 
Communications

    The ARRL is calling on the FCC to deny a /Petition for Rule Making/
    <http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7022424684> (RM-11699)
    seeking to permit the encryption of certain amateur communications
    during emergency operations or related training exercises. Don
    Rolph, AB1PH, of E Walpole, Massachusetts, petitioned the Commission
    in March to suggest an additional exception to §97.113, which
    currently prohibits “messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring
    their meaning.”

    “While Mr Rolph has concisely stated his argument, it is ARRL’s
    considered view that there is no factual or legal basis for the
    assumption that encryption of transmissions…is necessary in order to
    continue and enhance the utility of Amateur Radio emergency and
    disaster relief communications,” the League said in its comments
    <http://www.arrl.org/fcc-documents>, filed today with the FCC. The
    ARRL also turned away Rolph’s assertion that the current prohibition
    in §97.113 “has impacted the relationship of Amateur Radio
    volunteers and served agencies and significantly limited the
    effectiveness of amateurs in supporting emergency communications.”
    The League said it’s unaware of any evidence that served agencies
    have been reluctant to utilize Amateur Radio as part of their
    emergency or disaster relief communications plans because of the
    encryption restrictions in Part 97. The Amateur Service rule is
    based on a similar prohibition in international telecommunication
    law, the ARRL noted.

    The League characterized as “erroneous” and “unfounded” Rolph’s
    assumption that encryption of certain information may be required
    under the provisions of HIPAA — the Health Insurance Portability and
    Accountability Act. “This mistaken assumption leads to the
    conclusion that the inability of Amateur Radio operators to encrypt
    the content of their transmissions in order to obscure the meaning
    of the transmissions renders Amateur Radio less (and decreasingly)
    useful to served agencies than it would be if encryption of those
    transmissions was permitted,” the ARRL said. The League also said it
    was unaware of any instance in which state statutes have been cited
    by any served agency or group as a reason not to employ Amateur
    Radio for emergency communication.

    Radio amateurs, the ARRL countered, are not “covered entities” under
    HIPAA, which applies only to health care providers, health plans and
    health care clearinghouses. And, the League added, there is no
    expectation of privacy in Amateur Radio communications.

    The ARRL said it’s not possible to determine the validity of the
    claim “that health care agencies subject to HIPAA are or might be
    unwilling or reluctant to utilize Amateur Radio in emergency
    communications and disaster relief planning” because of any lack of
    privacy inherent in Amateur Radio. “Permitting encryption might
    remedy the concern as a practical matter, if the concern exists,”
    the League continued, but “the complete dearth of even anecdotal
    evidence of the existence of that concern” makes it impossible to
    justify the proposed rule change on that basis.

    “It is extremely important to insure that Amateur Radio remains
    useful to served disaster relief and emergency communications
    agencies, which include health care facilities,” the League
    stressed. “It is just as important to insure that regulatory
    impediments to that volunteer work be minimized /to the extent
    consistent with the nature of the Amateur Radio Service/.” Amateur
    Radio’s utility to served agencies in supporting emergency
    communication, the ARRL continued, “is high indeed, and is at the
    present time unfettered by the inability to encrypt transmissions.”

    However, the ARRL said that should it become necessary in the future
    for radio amateurs to protect the privacy of individuals whose
    medical data may be transmitted by Amateur Radio during or after an
    emergency or disaster, “the Commission may be asked to revisit this
    matter.”

    “It is urgent that Amateur Radio continue to be an essential
    component of disaster and emergency communications planning,” and
    that served agencies, including medical facilities, perceive the
    utility of Amateur Radio as unhindered by regulations that prohibit
    encryption, the League emphasized.

    More than 200 comments were filed on RM-11699, most of them tending
    to support the ARRL’s arguments.