Ask Lemmy

Fun fact: they banned encryption on Amateur Radio frequencies.

Are you sure that this is recent?

https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/tge77a/is_it_illegal_to_encrypt_traffic_over_ham_radio/

is it illegal to encrypt traffic over ham radio?

OP, you should probably clarify which country you live in. The rules are different by country, but in the majority of places encryption on ham radio frequencies is not legal.

Specific to the United States, the very short summary is that there are narrow exemptions that allow encryption, but none that will let you legally send an encrypted message to another person, or have an encrypted two-way conversation that cannot be decrypted by someone else. Encryption in the US is only allowed for cases like protecting radio commands being sent to satellites from external tampering.

There are probably ways available to everyone to transmit data in an encrypted form. It sounds like some non-amateur frequencies that aren't that hard to get access to in the UK permit for encryption:

https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/tkbx8f/any_radio_with_encryption_that_is_legal_to_use_in/

Is there ANY handheld radio that is encrypted/has encryption that can be used in the UK

Get a business radio licence. They cost bugger all to get for what you'll need, from as little as £75 for a 5 year licence, and you can get digital radio gear from Kenwood, Motorola or Icom that'll do what you want.

You could use the licence free PMR446 but the range is utter shite.

I assume that given that WiFi exists and is usually encrypted, the unregulated spectrum permits for encryption, unless the UK deals with that range very differently than the US does.

Also, if you want a point-to-point link and can use lasers, I doubt that that's regulated.