This must be going around facebook or something, because this is the 2nd thread I’ve seen about this.
The answer is, yes, the FCC does have the ability to observe or otherwise inspect Ham radio equipment. This is not something they are going to do unless they have a specific complaint against you. i.e., you have equipment that is interfering with radio transmissions. Such interferance is easy to track and locate. Amateurs do it all the time. It’s called a fox hunt, and is something Ham clubs do for fun.
Even if you are not a Ham, the FCC can get a warrant to search your premises if they have reason to believe you have hardware that is illegally interfering with legitimate legal transmissions. You can be fined rather significant sums for illegally interfering with others’ legal use of radio spectrum.
However, unless you are tinkering with stuff that has significant RF components, you’re unlikely to run afoul of the FCC.
Yeah, I’m a Ham
As am I.
I ended up being a technical expert (as a ham) talking to I think it was the Pacific Legal Foundation. They were researching suing the FCC for privacy violations because they thought that random home searches were being done using the ham radio license as an excuse.