2024-11-29 — Canadian Amateur Radio Operators Experimenting with Encryption, APRS Radios, Utah Digital Comm. Conf., Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 and Dev Kit… and a Case!, LILYGO T-TWR Plus
Jim - Zero Retries is the name of the newsletter and I number each weekly issue sequentially beginning at 0000 in July 2021. See https://www.zeroretries.org/about for the backstory of the name “Zero Retries”.
Regarding encryption and publishing keys in a public location.. this makes me nervous and twitchy. I'm old enough to have lived through the "Clipper Chip" thing years ago, and various attempts by government to implement encrypted communication systems and methods which incorporate some "key escrow" element. The theory being that, in exchange for the government "allowing" you to use encryption systems in communications, the key available in the escrow mechanism would only be used by the government for "legitimate" purposes only.
All of this was with respect to proposed regulatory restrictions on encrypted content in the US on the Internet and in other communication systems, which is a little removed from the amateur radio service. My concern here is that some accomodation in the amateur radio service with "escrowed" or published keys might get pointed to as precedent or demonstration in an out of context way and used to shape policies for trusted communications across the Internet.
So I think if this is something that's adopted in the amateur radio service, it would be good to carefully consider the optics, labeling and description of such a system that conveys the narrow purpose and applicability. And not inadvertently be the camel's nose in the tent as far as encryption policy advocacy.
(Commenting for me was a bit squirrelly so I couldn't use the "Reply to Comment" option.)
Louis - I understand your points. I too remember the battles over the Clipper Chip, PGP, and other electronic privacy issues (some of which are still ongoing - unlocking iPhones by law enforcement, etc.), and on those issues, I'm definitely on the side of "there is an expectation, and a right to privacy".
But for use of encryption in Amateur Radio, I prefer to see it from the other end of the argument, that deliberate encryption is currently not allowed in Amateur Radio other than for satellite control and remote control of model aircraft, etc.
When it was created, and continuing to present day, Amateur Radio has never had any expectation of private communications, even when we were using autopatch or phone patches via HF. No one proposed that we "scramble" such communications to provide some privacy during such communications. Amateur Radio is (pretty universally agreed upon, I think) intended only for hobby, casual, and experimental communications.
And, once in a great while, Amateur Radio is used for emergency communications and in such situations, communications in the clear can be awkward at times and could cause Amateur Radio to be considered a less desirable / capable form of communication. Which can be a shame - developing a perception of "better not to send a message via Amateur Radio that might be end up being shared widely".
There are ample systems available if privacy (encryption) is wanted / needed such as Signal with end-to-end encryption, etc.
Thus perhaps this "accommodation" may enable some use of encryption in Amateur Radio, however halting and flawed or incomplete... where we currently have no such capability. I think we're at the point, in this era, that some additional encryption in Amateur Radio... however flawed, is better than the reflexive NO ENCRYPTION that is the current situation. I can imagine that in a few years when the average high profile repeater could be as capable and sophisticated as a satellite... and just as inaccessible to physically repair as a satellite if it gets hacked. But while we CAN use encryption to safely command a satellite with reduced fear of it being hacked... we can't use encryption to safely command a repeater, or a microwave network, or a remoted HF radio, or any number of increasingly sophisticated systems that we're putting on the air with Amateur Radio.
Note - in discussing the possibility of some encryption over Amateur Radio with the potential use case of emergency communications over Amateur Radio, I'm not being disingenuous about my previous observations that many / most emergency communications are now more capably handled over Iridium, FirstNET, or Starlink systems.
This matter was explained in an issue of CQ or CQ-VHF in the early 2000's before HSMM started using Mesh technology to restrict the connections to hams. There was a pre-defined key on the ARRL website. So the Canadian thing is the same sort of thing. As N8GNJ points out there really is no need to use encryption and using the ARES angle to allow it is pathetic since there are now so many ways to handle that kind of traffic outside of ham radio. It's important to remember the rules we have in the USA were crafted before digital was a thing. "Intentionally obscuring the meaning" was likely referring to mostly the use of coded lingo on voice. Even analog scrambing and like wasn't much of a thought at the time. And yes civilian encryption was prohibited within my life time. (I believe that changed during the Clinton administration)
Steve - Thanks for your comments. I believe we'll eventually be able to reach some reasonable accommodation to be able to use encryption for specific situations in Amateur Radio, as we already do for remote controlled model vehicles and command of satellites. But that's going to take a lot of help, and probably some significant funding to hire some clueful professional help in Washington DC, and perhaps a new generation of leadership in US Amateur Radio. We can already see some of that - the rise of clueful, younger, progressive, techie leaders emerging as the 20th century organizations and their leadership are fading out.
Yeah, I remember the bad old days before the "authorities" gave up trying to restrict effective encryption like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) as not being able to put that Djin back in the bottle. I remember the hilarious dichotomy that you could legally gift, sell, and export T-shirts and books printed with the PGP code. THOSE were "freedom of speech". But trying to gift, sell, export machine readable PGP code, like on a floppy disk, or an FTP site, THAT got you a swift and forceful rebuke. That was yet another heroic and now largely forgotten gift of Phil Karn KA9Q and many others who could see forward that effective (not deliberately crippled or having a back door) encryption was critical to digital society.
Hey Steve OM, what does the 'Zero Retires 0180' signify? TKS OM EE
Jim - Zero Retries is the name of the newsletter and I number each weekly issue sequentially beginning at 0000 in July 2021. See https://www.zeroretries.org/about for the backstory of the name “Zero Retries”.
Regarding encryption and publishing keys in a public location.. this makes me nervous and twitchy. I'm old enough to have lived through the "Clipper Chip" thing years ago, and various attempts by government to implement encrypted communication systems and methods which incorporate some "key escrow" element. The theory being that, in exchange for the government "allowing" you to use encryption systems in communications, the key available in the escrow mechanism would only be used by the government for "legitimate" purposes only.
All of this was with respect to proposed regulatory restrictions on encrypted content in the US on the Internet and in other communication systems, which is a little removed from the amateur radio service. My concern here is that some accomodation in the amateur radio service with "escrowed" or published keys might get pointed to as precedent or demonstration in an out of context way and used to shape policies for trusted communications across the Internet.
So I think if this is something that's adopted in the amateur radio service, it would be good to carefully consider the optics, labeling and description of such a system that conveys the narrow purpose and applicability. And not inadvertently be the camel's nose in the tent as far as encryption policy advocacy.
(See my "non reply" comment.)
(Commenting for me was a bit squirrelly so I couldn't use the "Reply to Comment" option.)
Louis - I understand your points. I too remember the battles over the Clipper Chip, PGP, and other electronic privacy issues (some of which are still ongoing - unlocking iPhones by law enforcement, etc.), and on those issues, I'm definitely on the side of "there is an expectation, and a right to privacy".
But for use of encryption in Amateur Radio, I prefer to see it from the other end of the argument, that deliberate encryption is currently not allowed in Amateur Radio other than for satellite control and remote control of model aircraft, etc.
When it was created, and continuing to present day, Amateur Radio has never had any expectation of private communications, even when we were using autopatch or phone patches via HF. No one proposed that we "scramble" such communications to provide some privacy during such communications. Amateur Radio is (pretty universally agreed upon, I think) intended only for hobby, casual, and experimental communications.
And, once in a great while, Amateur Radio is used for emergency communications and in such situations, communications in the clear can be awkward at times and could cause Amateur Radio to be considered a less desirable / capable form of communication. Which can be a shame - developing a perception of "better not to send a message via Amateur Radio that might be end up being shared widely".
There are ample systems available if privacy (encryption) is wanted / needed such as Signal with end-to-end encryption, etc.
Thus perhaps this "accommodation" may enable some use of encryption in Amateur Radio, however halting and flawed or incomplete... where we currently have no such capability. I think we're at the point, in this era, that some additional encryption in Amateur Radio... however flawed, is better than the reflexive NO ENCRYPTION that is the current situation. I can imagine that in a few years when the average high profile repeater could be as capable and sophisticated as a satellite... and just as inaccessible to physically repair as a satellite if it gets hacked. But while we CAN use encryption to safely command a satellite with reduced fear of it being hacked... we can't use encryption to safely command a repeater, or a microwave network, or a remoted HF radio, or any number of increasingly sophisticated systems that we're putting on the air with Amateur Radio.
Note - in discussing the possibility of some encryption over Amateur Radio with the potential use case of emergency communications over Amateur Radio, I'm not being disingenuous about my previous observations that many / most emergency communications are now more capably handled over Iridium, FirstNET, or Starlink systems.
This matter was explained in an issue of CQ or CQ-VHF in the early 2000's before HSMM started using Mesh technology to restrict the connections to hams. There was a pre-defined key on the ARRL website. So the Canadian thing is the same sort of thing. As N8GNJ points out there really is no need to use encryption and using the ARES angle to allow it is pathetic since there are now so many ways to handle that kind of traffic outside of ham radio. It's important to remember the rules we have in the USA were crafted before digital was a thing. "Intentionally obscuring the meaning" was likely referring to mostly the use of coded lingo on voice. Even analog scrambing and like wasn't much of a thought at the time. And yes civilian encryption was prohibited within my life time. (I believe that changed during the Clinton administration)
Steve - Thanks for your comments. I believe we'll eventually be able to reach some reasonable accommodation to be able to use encryption for specific situations in Amateur Radio, as we already do for remote controlled model vehicles and command of satellites. But that's going to take a lot of help, and probably some significant funding to hire some clueful professional help in Washington DC, and perhaps a new generation of leadership in US Amateur Radio. We can already see some of that - the rise of clueful, younger, progressive, techie leaders emerging as the 20th century organizations and their leadership are fading out.
Yeah, I remember the bad old days before the "authorities" gave up trying to restrict effective encryption like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) as not being able to put that Djin back in the bottle. I remember the hilarious dichotomy that you could legally gift, sell, and export T-shirts and books printed with the PGP code. THOSE were "freedom of speech". But trying to gift, sell, export machine readable PGP code, like on a floppy disk, or an FTP site, THAT got you a swift and forceful rebuke. That was yet another heroic and now largely forgotten gift of Phil Karn KA9Q and many others who could see forward that effective (not deliberately crippled or having a back door) encryption was critical to digital society.