Legalities Of Listening to Public Safety

[citygirlleosprtr]

Hi, I'm Chloe. 👋

I live in the US but listen to public safety from around the world using Scanner Radio and Police Scanner.

I found a channel on Scanner Radio called, "Northwest VHF Scanning". In its description, it advises it scans Marine Distress and several SAR freqs. It states it is located in Chester.

I have heard that listening to any public safety traffic in the UK is considered widely illegal.

Is this?

Could I connect to this channel without any legal consequences?

I apologise if this is stupid, but I'd rather be safe, than sorry. Thanks in advance!

You all be safe. Cheers!

 

[rf_patriot200]

Hi, I'm Chloe. 👋

I live in the US but listen to public safety from around the world using Scanner Radio and Police Scanner.

I found a channel on Scanner Radio called, "Northwest VHF Scanning". In its description, it advises it scans Marine Distress and several SAR freqs. It states it is located in Chester.

I have heard that listening to any public safety traffic in the UK is considered widely illegal.

Is this?

Could I connect to this channel without any legal consequences?

I apologise if this is stupid, but I'd rather be safe, than sorry. Thanks in advance!

You all be safe. Cheers!

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Does this sound familiar ? Anything you listen to within the confines of your vehicle or Shack is Your business and No one else will know, Unless you tell them.

 

[consys]

Many years ago there was a book titled “The Listeners Law Book” that had the laws for all 50 states. The common theme was: don’t interfere, don’t discuss, don’t use your radio while commuting a crime. There were places that banned mobile use. I don’t know of a current comprehensive list, maybe there is one. As rf_patriot200 implied, if you behave yourself, little problems. I’ve been approached by airport security, and the Secret Service while watching a vice president motorcade. Always a muted smile, a nod, and left alone with no challenge. Both times openly showing radio to children and their parents.

 

[citygirlleosprtr]

Thank you mate.

 

[citygirlleosprtr]

Thanks mate.

 

[rf_patriot200]

Many years ago there was a book titled “The Listeners Law Book” that had the laws for all 50 states. The common theme was: don’t interfere, don’t discuss, don’t use your radio while commuting a crime. There were places that banned mobile use. I don’t know of a current comprehensive list, maybe there is one. As rf_patriot200 implied, if you behave yourself, little problems. I’ve been approached by airport security, and the Secret Service while watching a vice president motorcade. Always a muted smile, a nod, and left alone with no challenge. Both times openly showing radio to children and their parents.

Is that a Radio under your jacket lol?

 

[N6ML]

In the UK, basically it's illegal to "intercept" (listen to) radio transmissions that are not intended for you, so basically you can listen to broadcast services and a few exceptions like amateur radio. It's also illegal to "disclose" anything that you've intercepted. As hinted by others, "interception" is difficult to detect, but if you're streaming audio on a publicly available app, that could be considered "disclosure", and could get noticed. You might notice that the UK is not represented on LiveATC, for example (at least the last time I looked). In any case, if you're just using the app, you are not the one doing the "interception" and "disclosure" - it'd the person providing the stream to that app - so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Minus1]

Hi, I'm Chloe. 👋

I live in the US but listen to public safety from around the world using Scanner Radio and Police Scanner.

I found a channel on Scanner Radio called, "Northwest VHF Scanning". In its description, it advises it scans Marine Distress and several SAR freqs. It states it is located in Chester.

I have heard that listening to any public safety traffic in the UK is considered widely illegal.

Is this?

Could I connect to this channel without any legal consequences?

I apologise if this is stupid, but I'd rather be safe, than sorry. Thanks in advance!

You all be safe. Cheers!

Nothing to worry about. UK law is archaic when it comes to radio listening; and dates from World War 2, and the cold war. Back in the 1960s it was illegal to listen to anything except the BBC, then pirate radio statios came along upset the establishent.
Go to any airshow in the UK and there will be hundreds of people listening to air traffic control, as there will be at any any airport viewing area, including military airfields. I've not heard of anyone being prosecuted over such for decades. The government know that any such prosecution would highlight the stupidity of the law, and force them to change it.