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Privacy

Privacy policy for HAM+.

Effective November 4, 2026. What the HAM+ app does with your information, in plain words.

Who is responsible

HAM+ is an app by PLG Multiservices, the business of Louis Gingras (VE2NIR).

This policy covers the HAM+ app on Android, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, wherever you got it (App Store, Google Play or ve2nir.ca), and what the ve2nir.ca site receives from it for registration and activation.

In short

  • No ads, no tracking, no audience measurement tools in the app.
  • Your information is never sold or traded.
  • No location, no access to your contacts. A photo is read only if you choose it to send through your ICOM radio (Android).
  • Your network passwords stay on your device (and your Apple Watch), encrypted. They only go to the network they belong to, never to ve2nir.ca. For EchoLink, they go through the relay when the “Through a relay” setting is on.
  • The microphone is used only when you talk and during the microphone test in Settings. No sound is ever saved to a file.

What the app sends to ve2nir.ca

HAM+ asks the ve2nir.ca site whether the device is allowed to run. To do so, it sends:

  • a device code and a key specific to the app. On iPhone and iPad, this code is drawn at random when the app is installed. On Android, it is calculated from the identifier Android gives HAM+ on this device (or drawn at random if Android gives none): only a fingerprint is sent, never the identifier itself. On Android, this code stays the same if you reinstall the app, so that the free trial does not start over;
  • the exact device model (for example “Apple iPhone18,2”, or the make and model of an Android device) and the system (Apple or Android);
  • the app version and where it came from (for example “1.7 iOS App Store”);
  • the Internet address (IP address) the device connects from: the site sees it with every exchange;
  • when needed, short technical codes: the version, the network type (Wi-Fi or cellular, IPv4 or IPv6) and the state of the connections. Some contain the public Internet address seen by AllStarLink and how long you talked on AllStarLink and IAX. They never contain your voice or your passwords.

The site answers with the access status (trial, unlocked or stopped), its end date, the allowed modes and the account’s callsign.

Why: to know whether the device is allowed, to stop it in case of abuse and to fix problems.

“Report a problem”

Only if you tap “Report a problem” (at most once a minute), HAM+ sends ve2nir.ca a report with: the device model, the system and app versions, the connection type, the radio status, the open tab, the access status (including the App Store trial or unlock), the car status, the screen size, the language, the microphone permission, the time and the last 200 lines of the app log.

Before sending, the app masks in this log the email addresses, Internet addresses, device code, tokens, callsigns and numbers of 4 digits or more. The site masks them a second time.

The app log keeps its last 400 lines, on your device only. It is excluded from backups.

What the ve2nir.ca site keeps

Amateur radio registration and HAM+ activation take place on ve2nir.ca, the VE2NIR website. For HAM+, the site keeps:

  • Your account: callsign, name, email; address and phone only if you give them; your language; your password, encrypted (no one can read it).
  • Your amateur radio certificate: the photo or PDF, if you send it. It is sent through the site, never through the app. Only the administrator sees it.
  • Your devices: code, model, version, system, name, callsign, plan, end date, status (pending, allowed or stopped) with the date and reason of approvals and stops, last visit and last Internet address.
  • Your sign-ins to the site: date, Internet address, approximate city and country.
  • A log of actions on the account (registration, approval, deletion) and the “Report a problem” reports.

At registration, the site checks your callsign in the public amateur radio register of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and on QRZ.com. The rest of the ve2nir.ca site has its own policy: ve2nir.ca/en/privacy.

What stays on your device

Your passwords for BrandMeister and DMR-Q (hotspot), your EchoLink account and relay, your AllStarLink node and server, your IAX servers and your ICOM radios. On iPhone and iPad, they are kept in the device keychain and never move to another device through a backup; only your Apple Watch receives a copy, through the direct link with the iPhone (see Apple Watch). On Android, they are encrypted (AES-256) with a key held by Android.

Your settings: callsign, DMR ID, EchoLink first name and location, memories, addresses of your ICOM radios and IAX servers. On iPhone and iPad, they are part of the device’s regular backup (iCloud or computer). On Android, the app does not allow online backup. During a transfer to a new phone, some devices may still copy your settings; your passwords, however, stay unreadable on the new phone.

Lists: the BrandMeister talkgroup list is kept to go faster. The names and locations of the stations you hear, read from radioid.net, stay in memory only (3,000 at most) and are never written to a file.

Apple Watch

The iPhone copies to your Apple Watch what it needs to connect to the networks on its own. The copy goes through the direct link between the iPhone and the watch (Apple’s WatchConnectivity), never through ve2nir.ca. It contains:

  • your callsign;
  • your DMR ID and BrandMeister password;
  • your EchoLink password, first name and location, with your relay settings and relay password;
  • your AllStarLink server (“My server”: node, address, port, user and password; never the node password);
  • your first IAX server and its password;
  • the chosen ICOM radio and its password;
  • your D-Star suffix and message;
  • up to 200 memories, your access status and its end date.

The watch keeps this information in its own keychain, connects directly to the networks and never contacts ve2nir.ca. Its log (300 KB at most) stays on the watch.

Radio networks

HAM+ talks directly to the networks you use, and only when you use that mode. Each network sees your Internet address and applies its own rules. What you say on the air is public, just like on the radio.

  • radioid.net: the DMR ID or callsign of the station you hear, to show its name and location.
  • DMR, BrandMeister: the talkgroup list (api.brandmeister.network). Your BrandMeister server (by default 3021.master.brandmeister.network) receives your DMR ID, your hotspot password and a record that says “HAM+”, “Mobile” and position 0/0: never your real position.
  • DMR, DMR-Q: the DMR-Q servers receive your DMR ID and the network password. On Android, the server list is read from pistar.uk.
  • EchoLink: the EchoLink directories (servers, naeast, nasouth and backup.echolink.org) receive your callsign, password, first name and location. Your first name and location are public in the EchoLink list.
  • Public EchoLink relays: the “Through a relay” setting is on at first. Without a relay of your own, the app picks a public relay from the echolink.org list. These relays belong to other people and carry your EchoLink connection, including your callsign and EchoLink password, and your voice. You can enter your own relay or turn this setting off.
  • AllStarLink: register.allstarlink.org receives your node number and its password; the node list comes from nodes.allstarlink.org. The line test runs only if you start it in Settings.
  • System Fusion (YSF, FCS) and M17: the lists come from pistar.uk; the room or reflector receives your callsign.
  • D-Star: the lists come from pistar.uk; auth.dstargateway.org receives your callsign, and the app looks up a station’s name there from its callsign.
  • IAX and ICOM radios: only the servers or radio you entered. On Android, Bluetooth is used only for the ICOM ID-5100 radio.
  • Messages and photos: the text messages you write (DMR through BrandMeister; D-Star through an ICOM radio on Android), the short D-Star message (20 characters at most) attached to your D-Star transmissions and the photo you choose (sent in D-Star by your ICOM radio, on Android) only go to the network or radio you chose. Just like on the air, they are not private.

The microphone

HAM+ uses the microphone only when you tap “Talk”, and during the microphone test in Settings (that sound stays in memory, then it is forgotten). On Android, in the car, the app also listens for a brief moment just before going on the air, to check that the microphone responds. Your voice only goes to the network you are talking on. No sound is ever saved to a file or sent to ve2nir.ca.

CarPlay, Android Auto and Siri

In the car, HAM+ shows through CarPlay or Android Auto. On iPhone, HAM+ uses Apple’s calling system (CallKit) to keep the sound going; these “calls” do not appear in your recent calls. If you ask Siri for a memory, Siri only receives the memory name, through Apple.

Purchases and updates

  • iPhone and iPad: the trial and the unlock go through the App Store. Apple handles the payment; nothing about the purchase is sent to ve2nir.ca. We see neither your name nor your card.
  • Android: the purchase is made on ve2nir.ca, through PayPal, from the device code. PayPal handles the payment: the app never touches any payment data. For each purchase, the site keeps the date, the sale number, the PayPal numbers, the chosen province, the country given by PayPal, the price, the taxes, the total, the status (paid or refunded), the device purchased and your account. Neither your name nor your PayPal email is kept.
  • Android updates: the Android version installed from ve2nir.ca checks whether a new version exists and downloads it from the site with the device code.

Where and how

The site’s information is on the ve2nir.ca servers, in Québec. Exchanges between the app and ve2nir.ca are encrypted (HTTPS). The radio networks have their own servers in several countries.

How long

  • The account: as long as it exists.
  • A pending device that was never activated: deleted after 30 days.
  • “Report a problem” reports: 90 days at most (the 500 most recent).
  • Server technical logs: 12 months at most.
  • Site backup copies: erased on their own within 30 days.
  • PayPal purchases: as long as the account exists. After it is deleted, what tax laws require remains, without the account, for 6 years after the end of the year of purchase.
  • On your device: until you delete the app. On Android, the device code comes back the same if you reinstall the app; it changes only if the device is reset to factory settings.

Deleting your information

  • Your account: delete it yourself, at any time, at ve2nir.ca/en/delete-my-account. Your account, certificate, devices and their codes are deleted right away; backup copies within 30 days. Only the “account deleted” line in the site log remains for 12 months, without your email or phone. In the app, the “Delete my ve2nir.ca account” line in Settings opens this page.
  • What is on your device: delete the app. On iPhone and iPad, first erase your passwords in HAM+: Apple may keep the keychain after an app is deleted. Also delete the app from your Apple Watch. On Android, a new installation on the same device gets the same device code back; to erase that code on our side, delete your account or write to us.
  • Your rights: you can ask to see your information, have it corrected, have it deleted or withdraw your consent. Write to support@ve2nir.ca. Answer within 30 days. You can also file a complaint with the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec.

Children

HAM+ is meant for licensed amateur radio operators; it is not designed for children. We do not knowingly collect anything about a child under 14. A parent can write to us to have such information deleted.

Incidents and changes

If your information is affected by a serious incident, we will notify you and the Commission d’accès à l’information.

If this policy changes, the date at the top of the page changes. An important change is announced on this page and on ve2nir.ca.