Privacy and the public license record

An amateur license is a public federal authorization, and the record of it is a public document. Anyone can look up any call sign in the FCC's Universal Licensing System (ULS) and read the licensee's name and mailing address, free and without an account.¹ Third-party sites such as QRZ and callsign lookup apps mirror that database, so what the FCC publishes ends up in a dozen places within days.

None of this is a reason not to get licensed. It is a reason to think for two minutes about which address you write on the application, because changing it afterwards does not remove it from the mirrors.

What is published

Everything below is visible to the public in ULS:²

• Your legal name.
• Your mailing address, exactly as filed.
• Your call sign and license class.
• Your FCC Registration Number (FRN).
• Your answer to the felony conviction question on the application.
• Transaction history — application dates, grant and expiration dates, administrative review status,

and previous call signs.

What is not published

• Social Security number. The FCC uses it to identify you in CORES and never discloses it; the FRN

stands in for it everywhere the public can see.³

• Email address. An email address has been required on every application since June 2021, but the FCC

masks it from public view in ULS and uses it only to correspond with you.⁴

• Telephone and fax numbers.

Keeping your home address private

The FCC requires a working mailing address — not a residential one. If you would rather your home address not be searchable, file one of these instead:

• A PO box or commercial mailbox.
• A work address.
• A club's address, with the club's agreement.

Whatever you use, mail sent there must reach you. Correspondence returned to the FCC as undeliverable is grounds for suspension or revocation of the license, and the address must be kept current by filing a modification when it changes.⁵

If you are already licensed at your home address, you can change it at any time through ULS at no cost. That updates the FCC record, but copies already taken by third-party directories may persist; contact those sites individually to have the old entry corrected.

For parents

A license issued to a minor carries the child's legal name and the address on the application, both public. Many families use a PO box or the parent's work address for exactly this reason. See getting an FCC FRN for how a parent registers on a child's behalf.

Getting help

The FCC Licensing Support Center takes questions about what appears in your record and how to change it: 877-480-3201, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern, or through the FCC's Wireless Licensing Help Center online.⁶