Are police scanners legal?
In most of the United States and in many other countries, listening to unencrypted public safety radio is legal. The restrictions that do exist tend to target particular circumstances, such as using a scanner in a vehicle or using one while committing an offence, rather than listening itself.
This is general information, not legal advice. Scanner law varies by state, province and country, and it changes. Check the rules that apply where you are, and if it matters to you, ask a lawyer rather than an app's website.
Why listening is usually permitted
Unencrypted radio is broadcast in the open. Anyone with a receiver can hear it, and the law in many places has historically treated that as public. The long standing hobby of scanning grew out of exactly that principle, and volunteer run feeds have made the same audio available online for decades.
The restrictions that commonly exist
Where scanning is limited, the limits usually fall into recognisable patterns.
- Use in a vehicle. Some jurisdictions restrict operating a scanner in a moving vehicle, sometimes with exemptions for licensed amateur radio operators, press or emergency workers. This is the most common restriction, and the one most likely to catch out a driver using a phone app.
- Use during the commission of a crime. Many places treat using a scanner to assist or evade during an offence as a separate and more serious charge. This is close to universal.
- Interception of private communications. Rules generally distinguish open broadcast radio from private or encrypted communication. Deliberately defeating encryption is a different act with different consequences.
- Recording and rebroadcasting. Listening being lawful does not automatically make recording or republishing lawful.
What about phone apps specifically?
Where scanning is legal, using an app is generally treated the same way. The important exception is in-vehicle restrictions: a phone streaming scanner audio in a car may be treated exactly like a physical scanner. If your area limits scanners in vehicles, assume that includes an app.
Outside the United States
The picture varies widely. Some countries treat receiving any transmission not addressed to you as an offence, at least in principle, even where enforcement against ordinary listeners is rare. Others take the same broadly permissive view as most US states. Do not assume that what applies in one country applies in another.
How to check your own rules
- Search for your state, province or country together with the phrase "scanner law" or "radio receiver law".
- Look for the actual statute rather than a forum summary. Forum answers are frequently out of date.
- Check specifically whether vehicles are treated differently, since that is the restriction most people encounter.
- If you are scanning for professional reasons such as journalism, check whether an exemption applies to you.
A practical note
Encryption is doing more to end scanning than the law is. In many areas the question is shifting from whether you are allowed to listen to whether there is anything left to hear. That is covered in why police scanners are going silent.
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