GMRS security risk.

[Guest Gary]

After getting a radio and a license I now realize that it is too much of a risk for my wife and I use them when we travel because of one unacceptable flaw.  We would be providing easy access to our name and address while showing that we were nowhere near our home every time we used the call sign.  People should know about that before wasting time and money on these things.

[Jaay]

Not necessarily. When  you travel, do you travel Together or in separate vehicles?  IF you travel out of the Area where you live, then set up a schedule or time that you will call her and keep your transmission short and to the point then Wait 10 minutes before you give your call sign. Also use LOW power when your close, and maybe use the interstitial channels instead of Repeaters. Or stay Silent until you are almost Home. IF you are Bilingual, you can give your Call sign in Another language too. There's no rule that states your Call has to given in English.

[GrouserPad]

3 hours ago, Jaay said:

Not necessarily. When  you travel, do you travel Together or in separate vehicles?  IF you travel out of the Area where you live, then set up a schedule or time that you will call her and keep your transmission short and to the point then Wait 10 minutes before you give your call sign. Also use LOW power when your close, and maybe use the interstitial channels instead of Repeaters. Or stay Silent until you are almost Home. IF you are Bilingual, you can give your Call sign in Another language too. There's no rule that states your Call has to given in English.

Unfortunately call sign has to be given in English. But you could use Morse code as an alternative to English phone identification. 

[Lscott]

6 hours ago, Guest Gary said:

After getting a radio and a license I now realize that it is too much of a risk for my wife and I use them when we travel because of one unacceptable flaw.  We would be providing easy access to our name and address while showing that we were nowhere near our home every time we used the call sign.  People should know about that before wasting time and money on these things.

People have used a P.O. Box when they registered for their license. So, if somebody looked it up on the FCC database they still wouldn't have a clue where your house is located.

[WRUU653]

4 hours ago, Jaay said:

There's no rule that states your Call has to given in English

I couldn’t remember this myself so I had to look it up but English on the identification is required.

95.1751 GMRS station identification.

(b) The call sign must be transmitted using voice in the English language or international Morse code telegraphy using an audible tone.

You can use a P.O. Box as stated. With GMRS if someone can hear that you are no where near home than they are also not likely anywhere near said home.

While you do bring up a valid concern here are some ideas. Use an alarm system, camera security, house sitter, big dog, a pleasantly noisy neighbor, Burmese tiger traps (affiliate link below). Pun intended

 

[WRUE951]

5 hours ago, Jaay said:

Not necessarily. When  you travel, do you travel Together or in separate vehicles?  IF you travel out of the Area where you live, then set up a schedule or time that you will call her and keep your transmission short and to the point then Wait 10 minutes before you give your call sign. Also use LOW power when your close, and maybe use the interstitial channels instead of Repeaters. Or stay Silent until you are almost Home. IF you are Bilingual, you can give your Call sign in Another language too. There's no rule that states your Call has to given in English.

you should read the rules my friend.  

§ 95.1751 GMRS station identification.

Each GMRS station must be identified by transmission of its FCC-assigned call sign at the end of transmissions and at periodic intervals during transmissions except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. A unit number may be included after the call sign in the identification.

(a) The GMRS station call sign must be transmitted:

(1) Following a single transmission or a series of transmissions; and,

(2) After 15 minutes and at least once every 15 minutes thereafter during a series of transmissions lasting more than 15 minutes.

(b) The call sign must be transmitted using voice in the English language or international Morse code telegraphy using an audible tone.

(c) Any GMRS repeater station is not required to transmit station identification if:

(1) It retransmits only communications from GMRS stations operating under authority of the individual license under which it operates; and,

(2) The GMRS stations whose communications are retransmitted are properly identified in accordance with this section.

[WRTC928]

I understand your point, but in order for that to happen, a number of things would have to occur simultaneously. 1) Someone would have to hear your call. 2) They'd have to know they could look up your address from the call sign. 3) They'd have to know a criminal near where you live -- because by definition, if you're away from home, the miscreant is somewhere near you, not near your house. 4) They'd have to go to the effort of contacting their buddy and telling him to burglarize your house, which they'd have little incentive to do because criminals don't burglarize a house and send part of the ill-gotten gains to a friend 100 miles away. The odds of all that happening simultaneously are so astronomically small that I don't even consider it. I just periodically check the security cameras on my phone and go on enjoying my vacation.

[WRHS218]

As 928 pointed out; a lot of stars would have to align perfectly for there to be a problem. And a lot of dangerous assumptions would have to be made by the dirtbag. Could it happen? Yes. If that probability is more than you are comfortable with then it is good you figured all of this out now. Whether we realize it or not, we all determine what chances in life we are willing to live with. I would not give this scenario a second thought.

[Socalgmrs]

This is a totally unsound scenario with zero re world issues.  I’m going to bet that no one’s home has ever been broken into because they used a call sign on a radio.    It amazes me what some people have the time to think About.   I can’t imagine being this paranoid.  

[WRYZ926]

I get it that people do not like having their address and info listed for anyone to see on the FCC website. But if you true want to stay off the map and be untraceable then you would have to totally go off grid which means no cell phones, computers, tablets, etc along with no bank accounts and paying cash for everything.

We get tracked everyday if we have a cell phone on us or even by our vehicles if you own a newer one with all of the computer modules onboard.

PS: If you have ever had any type of government issued security clearance then they already know your life story. And the government ALSO has your DNA on file if you have served in the military since 1993.

IF you are that worried, then get a good home security system and a big dog that roams the house while you are gone.

[WROQ359]

I think your home would more likely be burglarized due to mail/newspapers piling up in an obvious area, trashcans unattended, or lack of vehicles/activity seen at the home more so than someone hearing your call sign and doing the research to figure out where you live and making arrangements to steal your belongings. Just because you and your wife are away from home doesn't mean that there isn't someone else living there that would be home at the time of your absence. 

[WRHS218]

5 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

and a big dog that roams the house while you are gone.

This has always worked for me.

[dosw]

Nobody in Arches National Park is listening for a call sign so they can call back to a criminal they have on speed-dial in Atlanta to burglarize your home so they can split the ill-gotten gains.

Nobody hearing your call-sign in Atlanta is going to assume that your entire family is out of the home just because you use the radio to talk to someone five miles away while driving home from work. These licenses are family-oriented.

If you're concerned about the address being public, switch your record over to a PO box. But again, this is not a very useful attack vector. On any given day the FCC website probably doesn't even load.

 

Anyway, your choice. But call signs being linked to mailing addresses has been the standard since the early days of ham licensing.

[OffRoaderX]

14 minutes ago, dosw said:

Nobody in Arches National Park is listening for a call sign so they can call back to a criminal they have on speed-dial in Atlanta to burglarize your home so they can split the ill-gotten gains.

Nobody hearing your call-sign in Atlanta is going to assume that your entire family is out of the home just because you use the radio to talk to someone five miles away while driving home from work.

I'ma have to agree..

The OP is a great example of "some people" over-thinking what should be very simple and carefree.

[RIPPER238]

Don't get it. Who's announcing over GMRS there address and that they are away and there alarm code to there house?

Besides who is going to go though that kind of effort to figure out your call sign and additional info and immediately go to your home? 

If this has you paranoid, your in real trouble when we tell what the internet gathers, your car gathers and what the government has access to...  

[OffRoaderX]

Just now, RIPPER238 said:

Who's announcing over GMRS there address

If you have a callsign (GMRS or H.A.M.s radios) anyone can look up your name and address on the FCCs website - so basically, every time you say your callsign, you are also saying your full legal name and address..

....unless when you applied for your license you used a PO box or a service like HamRegistry that lets you use their address to keep your address private.

[RIPPER238]

5 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

If you have a callsign (GMRS or H.A.M.s radios) anyone can look up your name and address on the FCCs website - so basically, every time you say your callsign, you are also saying your full legal name and address..

....unless when you applied for your license you used a PO box or a service like HamRegistry that lets you use their address to keep your address private.

Yeah, I used a different address since i knew this, but its not like someone will just know, they have to look it up.

This is such a paranoid concern when there are things 1000x more likely to be an issue. 

[H8SPVMT]

I lived in Hawaii in the days of CB's and don't recall any break-ins of this kind on the islands.  Being on an island in such a small area I'm happy the criminals didn't think like this.

Could a criminal net-work successfully set up a statewide network to perform break-ins but I doubt it would bring them  the revenue necessary to live off it.  And besides,  Many folks talk from base stations anyway limiting the ther travel away from home.

In real life, by time someone catches your conversation, you'll be long gone by time you have to give your call sign again.

BUT YOU GAVE ME AN IDEA, on a trail ride with many Jeeps... out in the woods all day!  That's spooky!

[Hoppyjr]

……or you could simply ignore the “rule” and avoid giving your callsign during those drives. Will anyone really care? No.

Also, I seriously doubt that people are out there listing to callsigns, then looking them all up, calling other criminals in that area and coordinating break ins. Not to mention, they have no way of knowing if someone else is at the location.

Sorry, but it seems like worry for no practical reason.

I do suggest that you always wear a cup to protect your junk.

[OffRoaderX]

4 minutes ago, Hoppyjr said:

or you could simply ignore the “rule” and avoid giving your callsign during those drives. Will

and risk a hefty fine or jail time?  It's your choice, but is it really worth it?!

SOURCE: "some people" on this forum.

[Hoppyjr]

and risk a hefty fine or jail time?  It's your choice, but is it really worth it?!
SOURCE: "some people" on this forum.

I’m not sure if it’s a lack of common sense or too many engineers.

[WSAQ296]

So you imagine a scenario like this? :  Dirtbag "I got my gmrs radio on, let's do us some listenin!"
                                                                You: Okay honey, lets stop at the next rest area, WABC123

                                                                 Dirtbag "That's it, we have his address, let's drive 300 miles and hope his house is empty and unsecure"

Yeah, I think you're worrying about the wrong stuff.  Much more likely to have a neighbor kid break in when he sees you driving away all loaded up on what's normally a day off. 


 

[Jaay]

Simpler mistakes have been made over Fakebook, telling your friends you're going on Vaca and announcing it to the whole world, but those Listening as well as reading need to be kept in the DARK.

[SvenMarbles]

You and your wife don't need to be yelling your call sign back and forth to eachother. In fact, the frequent yelling of callsigns on GMRS is a learned dork habit of all of the ham radio people who've moved in on GMRS.

[WRUE951]

10-11-87, we have a 10-88 in progress, over.