Today at 12:01am, Oscar Schultz said:
I'm more interested in the communications part of EP. Most plans I see setup a structure around ham radio ops and voice or cw traffic as done from the 30's through the 40's, 50's and into today. Ham traffic can not be secured to encrypt the data as required by some of the new privacy laws. As I read the regs I can not see any legal way to pass traffic which may reveal information about the heath or status of anyone especially a minor. Also if a cell phone is available you may not be able to legally pass traffic of any meaningful nature via a ham radio (even if the cell phone only works some). How are various folks/groups dealing with the requirements to protect personal information? What do folks understand the FCC regs of data traffic on Ham versus cell phones to include?
The Church is the force pushing ham radio for emergency communication. There is a calling at the stake (and in some cases, ward) level for Emergency Communications Specialist. Their calling is to be a ham radio operator (or work closely with one) to coordinate communication between the stake and the Church (via the local Welfare Region, generally) in an emergency. The Church has numerous resources in place to facilitate such emergency communication, and there's a weekly on-the-air training meeting, in the Salt Lake area at least, for people serving this way. The church has radio equipment and operators ready, including repeaters with emergency power, so that they can maintain effective communication in a disaster.
The guideline on privacy that I heard last time I talked with them (about a year ago, more or less) was that no names or identifying information was to be passed on the air. They said that primarily it would be a matter of identifying the stake for which you were reporting, and giving information about the current situation and needs and what assistance you may be able to provide to others. All information about people (members or not) would be in the form of numbers only - counts of people, totals, and never names or other personally identifying information.
Regarding cell phones, they'll be heavily used in a disaster if the towers stay in service. If 30-50% of cell phone owners try and use them at the same time, the towers won't stay in service for long, they just can't handle that capacity. I'm not sure what you're talking about with regards to it being illegal to "pass traffic of any meaningful nature via a ham radio (even if the cell phone only works some)". My cell phone works great right now, and it is perfectly legal for me to use my ham radio, to pass "meaningful" information or just to pass the time. I know of nothing that would restrict use of ham radios depending on whether or not the cell or other phone networks were operable. All the amatuer radio rules regarding priority of traffic and yeilding a channel to higher priority traffic are in full force regardless of any emergency situation.
I'm interested in finding out more about the privacy laws to which you refer. I as a private person am under no commitment of which I am aware to protect privacy in my communication, whether in person or on the air. I discuss health and wellbeing issues with other people quite often, both about myself or themselves, or when appropriate, that of a third party, who may or may not be a minor. I understand that certain organizations or professions may be under different obligations, like HIPAA for example, but I am not aware of a way in which I am bound by it. Of course it would not be desirable to pass private information over a broadcast media like ham radio if one did not desire that information to be made public, but I'm not aware of how it could be illegal for me personally to do so.
Thanks, Mac -- Mac Newbold MNE - Mac Newbold Enterprises, LLC [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.macnewbold.com/ _______________________________________________ Ldsoss mailing list Ldsoss@lists.ldsoss.org http://lists.ldsoss.org/mailman/listinfo/ldsoss
