Fri May 07, 2021 7:09 am
#1845515
T67M wrote:Sooty25 wrote:Whilst I'm fully aware of the potential air-to-air benefits, we really must resolve the privacy issues and ensure our data remains air-to-air, air-to-traffic control only. The day it is announced that EC is to become mandatory, will be the same day I petition OfCom to go after every single FR24 et al, receiver station under Section 48 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act.
The problem is that criminals by definition don't obey the law, and we cannot put the Software Defined Radio genii back in the bottle. The problem is that (almost) all of the current EC transmitters are fundamentally insecure from a privacy point of view. Changing the receiving end isn't the solution - it's the sending end which needs to change to achieve what you're looking for.
The transmitters and protocol doesn't need to be secure. As it is at the moment, an engine thief can sit with a phone using starbucks free WiFi to research and locate engines in any part of the country. ADS-B websites like FR24 make that simple, as demonstrated in my earlier post.
Under Section 48, the interception and retransmission of voice or data not intended for you, is a criminal offence. Any pilot fitting EC is doing it to transmit to other aircraft and ATC stations only, not for the benefit of random geeks that get a kick out of relaying it, not for criminals looking to steal engines and not for nimbys to spy on GA movements.
Why isn't there any websites relaying ATC from UK airports? Because it is illegal, so why is the rebroadcasting of ADS-B allowed when it is clearly a criminal offence?
As a footnote, I think Rotax thefts are likely to be less frequent now brexit has made exporting them much more difficult.
The quickest way to fall out with people is, discuss politics.