2.2 Privacy of Communications

Privacy is a legal duty, not just etiquette

Aeronautical radios are not a public bulletin board for gossip. Even though anyone with a scanner might overhear VHF traffic, operators and anyone who becomes acquainted with radiocommunications are legally required to preserve privacy. RIC-21 §4.2 implements this duty from the Radiocommunication Act. For the ROC-A exam, you must know both the rule and the exceptions, plus the maximum penalties.

The core prohibition — Act subsection 9(2)

In accordance with subsection 9(2) of the Radiocommunication Act, no person shall divulge:

1. the contents of communications transmitted, received, or intercepted by a radio station; or
2. the existence of such communications,

except as the Act permits.

Two words in that rule are exam-critical:

• Contents means what was said—call signs, positions, intentions, personal details, company traffic, and any substance of the message.
• Existence means you also cannot casually announce that a communication happened (“I heard Airline 123 talking to Centre about a problem…”) when disclosure is not authorized. Privacy covers the fact of the communication, not only its full transcript.

The duty applies to radio operators and to all persons who become acquainted with radiocommunications—so a passenger who overhears the radio, a dispatcher, or a student pilot listening on a handheld is not free to repeat protected traffic on social media or in conversation.

Who may receive disclosure (exceptions)

Disclosure is allowed only in the situations RIC-21 lists from the Act. You may divulge communications:

Addressee or accredited agent

If the message was for a particular person or organization, that addressee (or their accredited agent) may be informed. You are not free to share the same content with unrelated third parties “because it is interesting.”

Government of Canada officials and court officers

Authorized federal officials and officers of the court may receive information as contemplated by the Act. This is not a loophole for telling any government employee anything you heard on frequency. Authorization and official purpose matter.

Telecom operator — narrow technical exception

An operator of a telecommunications system may handle message content only to the extent needed to forward or deliver the communication. That supports switching, relay, and delivery functions. It does not authorize using message content for entertainment, marketing, or casual discussion.

What is NOT protected the same way

RIC-21 is explicit: these privacy restrictions do not apply to:

• messages of distress;
• messages of urgency;
• messages of safety; and
• messages addressed to “ALL STATIONS” (examples given: weather reports, storm warnings, and similar broadcasts).

Why distress, urgency, and safety are treated differently

Emergency and safety traffic exists so that other stations can hear, respond, relay, and coordinate rescue or hazard avoidance. Forcing absolute privacy on a MAYDAY would defeat the purpose of broadcasting it. The law therefore carves these categories out of the privacy restriction described in §4.2.

ALL STATIONS broadcasts

Messages addressed to ALL STATIONS—such as weather reports and storm warnings—are intended for general reception. Repeating or using that information is not the same as leaking a private point-to-point exchange between two specific stations.

Exam nuance: The carve-out is for distress, urgency, safety, and ALL STATIONS messages—not for every transmission that happens to mention weather. A private company request on frequency is still protected traffic; a weather broadcast to all stations is not bound by the same privacy rule.

Penalties — Act section 9.1

Violating the privacy of communications is a serious offence. As outlined in section 9.1 of the Act, a person who violates privacy of communications is liable on summary conviction:

Memorize the numbers. ROC-A items often test whether you confuse these figures with the different penalty tier for superfluous/profane communications or false distress (those use $5,000 / $25,000 corporation figures under other provisions—covered in section 2.4).

Comparison memory aid

• Privacy breach (s. 9.1): individual $25,000 and/or 1 year; non-individual $75,000.
• Superfluous/profane/interference/false distress (as taught in RIC-21 §4.4–4.5): individual $5,000 and/or 1 year; corporation $25,000.

Privacy penalties for organizations are the higher $75,000 figure in this chapter’s privacy section—do not swap them.

Operational scenarios for pilots and ground operators

Scenario A — Hangar talk. You overhear two aircraft coordinating a passenger medical situation that is not being handled as a public safety broadcast. Repeating names, destinations, or medical details in the coffee shop or online can be a privacy violation if the communication was not within an excepted category and the listener is not an authorized recipient.

Scenario B — Recording and posting. Posting a clipped air-band recording with identifiable content for entertainment can disclose contents (and existence) of communications to the world. Unless an exception applies, that is exactly what subsection 9(2) targets.

Scenario C — Helping deliver a message. A radio operator relays a message so it reaches the addressee. Using the content solely to complete delivery fits the telecom-forwarding idea; texting the same content to friends does not.

Scenario D — Storm warning. A storm warning addressed to ALL STATIONS may be shared and acted on widely. That is intentional system design, not a privacy breach.

Scenario E — Distress relay. Hearing a distress message and relaying it to a ground station or other aircraft is part of emergency procedure, not a privacy offence.

What the exam expects you to recall

1. Cite the rule: no divulging contents or existence (Act s. 9(2)).
2. List the exception recipients: addressee/agent, authorized Government of Canada officials, court officers, telecom operator as needed to forward/deliver.
3. List the subject-matter carve-outs: distress, urgency, safety, ALL STATIONS (weather, storm warnings, etc.).
4. State s. 9.1 penalties: $25,000 and/or 1 year (individual); $75,000 (non-individual).

Practical compliance habits

• Treat everything you hear on the radio as confidential by default.
• Share operationally only with people who have a need and a legal basis (addressee, authorized official, delivery function).
• Never use air-band content for social media “content,” training war stories that identify parties without authorization, or commercial advantage.
• When in doubt, do not disclose. The statute is written as a prohibition with narrow exceptions, not as open permission with rare bans.

Privacy rules sit beside priority, control, and interference rules: together they define legal operation of aeronautical stations under Canadian law, which RIC-20 requires examiners to test as part of general knowledge of the Radiocommunication Act and regulations.