Public Availability of Airmen Records

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Pilot-Dave

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Dave
So I've recently received my student pilot certificate (medical), and this morning I received a letter from the FAA notifying me about the "Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act" and its "requirement" for my personal information to be released to the public.

The wisdom of this requirement in today's identity-theft rampant world aside ... I have the following question.

In the letter, it states two seemingly mutually exclusive things:

1) it is a "Requirement" for the FAA to make airmen's PII available to the public.
2) Airmen can 'opt-out'.

It seems allowing airmen to opt-out would prevent the FAA from executing their 'requirement' to maintain that public database. So I'm wondering if there is a down-side to opting-out ... does opting out impact your standing with the FAA in any way?

I've read Sec 715 now, and does state that airmen may opt-out, but it doesn't state why the data must be made public and what if any consequences (to the airmen) may be related to opting-out of this "required" public database.

So I guess my question is: Are there any ramifications (to the airmen) if he elects to opt-out of this public disclosure of his personal data?

Thanks in advance,
- Dave
 
Actually, the letter is a LIE.
You can not opt out. All you get to opt out of is the dissemination of your postal address. The FAA chooses to violate the terms of the privacy act and the limited exemption given them by congress repeatedly.

The dissemination you are opting out of doesn't affect any OFFICIAL function. Your information is still available to the FAA and if you apply for any commercial piloting job to commercial operators (who have a different channel into the database than the public one).
 
hmm interesting.

Ok, well thanks for the simple answer. :)

I may be thinking too much of this, given that I'm an FCC licensed shortwave radio operator (and thus already in one publicly available federal database) ... but if you really can opt-out of this (which I don't believe you can do with the FCC), then it bugs me that it's billed as a 'requirement' and that its opt-out rather than opt-in. Also various wording makes me fear its more about some interest group managed to get the data so that it could be leveraged simply for marketing reasons.

/shrug.

Not sure what I'll do.
 
It is leveraged for marketing reasons. You will get postcards from a handful of AMEs when your medical is within a month of being due. You get postcards from local FBOs and those wishing to interest you in purchasing an airplane. You probably get others, too, but I am blessed with a thorough junkmail filter in the form of Hubby.
 
Pilot-Dave said:
I may be thinking too much of this, given that I'm an FCC licensed shortwave radio operator (and thus already in one publicly available federal database) ... bu
Click to expand...

Every federal database on individuals is barred from dissemination under the privacy act unless they have specific congressional exemptions. The FCC has had them in place for many years. The FAA got caught about twelve years ago for distributing the airman database without the exemption. They immediately pulled it down. This lead to a lot of disingenous bleatings from the commercial folks (notably John and Martha King) that safety was going to be jeopardized if they could send all the pilots junk mail without having to actually resort to maintaining their own database.

The AIR-21 authorization act contained the excemption. It contains explicit opt-out provisions (including notifying everybody they had the right to opt out). Unfortunately, I have been unsuccessfully trying to get the FAA to honor the exemption terms. The responses I get are either defiant dumb looks to outlight LIES. I had a FAA lawyer tell me that the legislative history supported their idiotic view. In fact, I reviewed every piece of history on AIR-21 and there's nothing in the record other than the introduction of the the exemption amendment to the bill itself.

It's going to take a Federal Court decision to get them to follow the law and I'm a bit too busy to work on that now.
 
AuntPeggy said:
It is leveraged for marketing reasons. You will get postcards from a handful of AMEs when your medical is within a month of being due. You get postcards from local FBOs and those wishing to interest you in purchasing an airplane. You probably get others, too, but I am blessed with a thorough junkmail filter in the form of Hubby.
Click to expand...
That explains some of the mail I get. I never put 2 and 2 together.
 
Hmmm, i never get anything. I never got that letter either. Maybe its all a lie and i dont really even have a medical. The ame couldnt get his printer to work so i got the old fashioned hand written one.........interesting.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
 
mikeinbama said:
Hmmm, i never get anything. I never got that letter either. Maybe its all a lie and i dont really even have a medical. The ame couldnt get his printer to work so i got the old fashioned hand written one.........interesting.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...


There is a little junk mail when you get your student certificate, but there is a LOT when you get your Private Certificate.
 
MBDiagMan said:
There is a little junk mail when you get your student certificate, but there is a LOT when you get your Private Certificate.
Click to expand...

I take it then you haven't opted-out?

Has anyone here opted-out and for any reason come to wish they hadn't?
 
the database comes in really handy around christmas card season...
 
I opted out and I still get tons of junk mail. I assume that the various aviation magazines and other things I've done business with over 25+ years of flying as well as the fact I was on the rolls for 20 years before they even allowed opt out means I'm doomed.
 
What is the problem, you can look up any car license plate number and any car driver online now.
Wait a second...
 
Well one problem is that the FAA is not authorized to disseminate medical information. It's nobody's business whether I have a medical or EVEN WORSE if I have a special issuance. This is exactly the sort of abuse of the confidential personal records that the Privacy Act specifically is there for.
 
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