New case against flight tracking

Dana said:
You may be right and I may be wrong, I may have seen the airman registry opt out option and assumed aircraft registration was the same.

Although... in Taylor Swift's case the n-number registry will certainly point to a corporation, not her personal address... something us ordinary folks don't bother with.
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It was not my intent to call you out, I sincerely hoped the registration office had come to its senses.

Nauga,
who knows a man can dream
 
AV8R_87 said:
Ok, I'll bite. You keep pretending you're not getting it.
Crazy guy sees N-number of plane he's convinced is flying too low, and decides to take matters into his own hands. He puts that number in a search engine, and that returns the owner's name and address, because the FAA made that public information. He can then go there and do whatever.
He doesn't have to wait for the owner to leave the airport and go home, following him all the way. He has all that information in a minute. You don't think that's a problem?
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I'm not pretending anything. I didn't think this is a problem, and you haven't shown that it is. More importantly, what does your scenario have to do with the thread topic?
 
Dana said:
You may be right and I may be wrong, I may have seen the airman registry opt out option and assumed aircraft registration was the same.

Although... in Taylor Swift's case the n-number registry will certainly point to a corporation, not her personal address... something us ordinary folks don't bother with.
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I like to think that I'm ordinary folk. And you would not have found my personal address if you were to look up my Cessna registration.

Although I do think there should be an "opt out" on address information for registering just like there is for a pilot certificate.
 
It’s not at all like she just up and sold her jet. That deal was probably a couple years in the making when the new one was ordered.
 
I think Ms. Swift is very safe next to her boyfriend.
 
A little clarification on what the guy is doing:

1. Open source research to associate N numbers with celebrities.
2. Monitors ADS-B broadcasts for activity by those aircraft.
3. Publishes that activity in real time on Twitter.

It's all legal. But also kind of ****ty for people subjected to it.

IMO the real objectionable behavior in this situation is by the star-struck morons who just can't leave celebrities the F alone.
 
Lowflynjack said:
I blocked my n-number. It wasn't for safety reasons, but I had a couple of guys who added me to their FlightAware so it would notify them every time I took off. One of them would even get on the radio, knowing the frequency I use for air-to-air and ask if I was doing a photo shoot. Maybe it shouldn't bother me, but I don't like someone being able to get a notification every time I take off!

When filming Michael, John Travolta would fly into our local airport and hang out when they weren't shooting. One day he noticed a crowd showing up and said, "Well boys, that's the end of that." I can't imagine living a life where everyone knows who you are and you can't get a moment of peace in public. No amount of money is worth that.
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Paul Newman was the same way at the racetrack. He wanted to be one of the drivers, not a celebrity.
 
Lindberg said:
The FAA isn't making any of this information public. It's coming from private ADSB receivers. Do you want to make it illegal to receive radio waves?
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How about we make adsb voluntary? I sure don't like my info being out there.
 
TCABM said:
Tries what?
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Follow the bouncing ball:
172andyou said:
Would it/Should it be legal for thousands of people to band together, put license plate spotters on every corner and publish the whereabouts of every car in realtime?
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Lindberg said:
Of course this is legal. Why wouldn't it be?
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dtuuri said:
I bet it won't be after somebody actually tries it.
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Lindberg said:
How and why would you outlaw that?
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There would be such a hue and cry, I wouldn't need to do anything. People only want to know where others are, wouldn't stand for it the other way around. (I hope.)
 
I think the issue is some of your heads are so big to believe anyone cares who you are and where you live.
 
I blocked mine immediately after receiving a call or text every time I flew somewhere. I’d get a creepy message.. “ Oh I see you’re back in FL, TX, NY, etc. what you up to…?” This was from someone with no reason or business to monitor me or my family’s whereabouts. For safety, I would never post our location anywhere. I don’t want it tracked or posted by anyone else either.
 
Flyer Scott said:
I blocked mine immediately after receiving a call or text every time I flew somewhere. I’d get a creepy message.. “ Oh I see you’re back in FL, TX, NY, etc. what you up to…?” This was from someone with no reason or business to monitor me or my family’s whereabouts. For safety, I would never post our location anywhere. I don’t want it tracked or posted by anyone else either.
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Except Swift posts where she'll be months in advance. I actually wish someone would do this for the Al Gore, John Kerry, Greta Thunberg crowd.

The FAA kindly already does this for the President.
 
Flyer Scott said:
I blocked mine immediately after receiving a call or text every time I flew somewhere. I’d get a creepy message.. “ Oh I see you’re back in FL, TX, NY, etc. what you up to…?” This was from someone with no reason or business to monitor me or my family’s whereabouts. For safety, I would never post our location anywhere. I don’t want it tracked or posted by anyone else either.
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Exactly.

The location of your plane or your personal travel info gives away where you are and more importantly where you aren't.

I don't want anyone to be able to easily deduce that I am not home to defend my wife and property.

As the US continues to devolve into a low-trust society, the opsec of your family should be a bigger consideration in your life.
 
172andyou said:
Would it/Should it be legal for thousands of people to band together, put license plate spotters on every corner and publish the whereabouts of every car in realtime?
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Along with an easily searchable database that tells you the owner of the vehicle by referencing the tag number...
 
slinger said:
I think Ms. Swift is very safe next to her boyfriend.
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Didn’t Lindbergh leave the country for a couple years to avoid the press/crowds etc after his son’s death?

Seems like a simple privacy system could have been implemented before adsb. Now that the n numbers data is out there it’s difficult to put the toothpaste back in the tube. They could still do it when planes are sold and eventually provide some privacy.
 
What is "N number privacy"? Your N number is painted on the side of your plane. If someone wants to know what your N number is, they just have to watch you go to the airport. This is actually much more reliable than using the FAA database.
 
AV8R_87 said:
The aircraft registration information doesn't tell people where the owner lives?

Even if you register it under an LLC, the LLC still needs a valid address that can be easily looked up.
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That "easily looked up" depends on the state. And that address need not be your home address...

Paul
 
Clip4 said:
yes, are you an inside trader?
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I am an insider in a publicly traded corp, yes.

I would bet that others here are, as well, and corporate plane schedules definitely fall into the category of insider information.
 
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Lindberg said:
What is "N number privacy"? Your N number is painted on the side of your plane. If someone wants to know what your N number is, they just have to watch you go to the airport. This is actually much more reliable than using the FAA database.
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It would be when you search for n1234 and you don’t get joe pilot at 123 Main Street from the faa (/ntsb if you were in an accident.)

You don’t get that info from auto license plates so why for an airplane?
 
Somehow, reading the US Constitution, I'm not seeing the right to know everything about anyone else...
 
Randomskylane said:
It would be when you search for n1234 and you don’t get joe pilot at 123 Main Street from the faa (/ntsb if you were in an accident.)

You don’t get that info from auto license plates so why for an airplane?
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You can get that info from license plates, just not on Google. And feel free to register your plane to an entity or use a PO Box or both. Boom. Privacy.
 
FancyG said:
Exactly.

The location of your plane or your personal travel info gives away where you are and more importantly where you aren't.

I don't want anyone to be able to easily deduce that I am not home to defend my wife and property.

As the US continues to devolve into a low-trust society, the opsec of your family should be a bigger consideration in your life.
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Do you have an exit from your house through a cave with a hidden exit?

Otherwise it's fairly easy for someone to know when you're not at home (if they really want to know).
 
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