N-Number Lookup Privacy

[RV7A Flyer]

I've said this before...it'll take somebody doing something stupid and dangerous to get them to change it. Somebody's ex or a lunatic harasser will track somebody down (or their family) using FAA database info, and then it'll change.

That's what it took for auto license plate info to stop being given out to every Tom, Dick and celebrity-obsessed Harry...after the young actress was killed by somebody who got her address from DMV.

[Mel]

Originally Posted by BMC_Dave

I see comments to its convenience. Though I wonder if this convenience is worth the loss of privacy for everyone, presuming your customers would volunteer this information?

Unfortunately this is not practical. This information must be EXACTLY like it is on the registration. VERY often the applicant will offer the information as He/She knows it instead of exactly how it is!
As the old saying goes: "It ain't what you don't know. It's what you know that ain't so!"

[N456TS]

Flying is a public activity. You're flying over people and in some cases, disturbing an otherwise quiet day for those on the ground. I don't see the issue with the registration being public. I use the database daily. If you don't want your home address listed, then use a PO box. If you don't want your name listed, then put it in an LLC. Now it's slightly harder to know who owns it...Another public database to lookup.

As for DMV databases - there are private ones with near real time locations using privately operated license plate scanners. Having a government database isn't needed to track anyone via license plate.

I should add, I do believe in protecting privacy, but making the database protected won't offer any real privacy protections. It might make you sleep better at night, but nothing more.

[tdm1234]

Wow, if this is a privacy issue for you, in my County and probably all other Counties, you can look up personal information on your home and property on the GIS system! Info about how much it is worth and how much you pay in property taxes!

[Tankerpilot75]

Today there is no privacy! You can be track by your cell phone, big data collects information on what you watch on tv and surf on the internet. Your banking, credit card purchases, financial records, etc. are all available to anyone who willing to pay for the information.

The fact that someone can look me up by N number registration is probably the least intrusive activity. I for one believe that using FAA public information on aircraft ownership serves at least some public good and is far less intrusive than the other data that is collected about me by many public companies and individuals.

As I said, privacy is both an illusion and not possible in today?s technology world. Politicians are discovering what they did 10 to 30+ years is now ?public.? Criminals are being tracked down by a relative?s Ancestory.com DNA test. Police can?t arrest someone without it being recorded. Get use to it and don?t be stupid in what you say or do. Someone will discover it!

[RV7A Flyer]

Originally Posted by N456TS

Flying is a public activity. You're flying over people and in some cases, disturbing an otherwise quiet day for those on the ground.

So is driving, but DMV doesn't allow anyone to go on-line and look up the owner of a vehicle, get their address, etc. Lots of things are done in public, but that doesn't mean I want the government to make my personal information freely available.

I don't see the issue with the registration being public. I use the database daily. If you don't want your home address listed, then use a PO box.

IIRC, you can't use a PO Box (I don't remember if that's for pilot certificates, aircraft registration, or both).

If you don't want your name listed, then put it in an LLC. Now it's slightly harder to know who owns it...Another public database to lookup.

As for DMV databases - there are private ones with near real time locations using privately operated license plate scanners. Having a government database isn't needed to track anyone via license plate.

I should add, I do believe in protecting privacy, but making the database protected won't offer any real privacy protections. It might make you sleep better at night, but nothing more.

It's not a matter of *tracking* a vehicle by plate number (or N-number). It's a question of *finding* the person who owns it and tracking them *down*. And as I said, the FAA's public release of pilot or owner data isn't going to change (as all the DMVs did years ago) unless and until somebody famous or some politician (or their family) gets hurt or killed by someone who got their information from the FAA's database.

[bkervaski]

I'm really surprised by the poll results.

[jnorris]

There are so many ways people can find my address already, that taking this one away wouldn't amount to a hill of beans. I've got more important things to worry about than whether an N number search will lead to my address. Google will do that already, so what's the big deal?

[Drifteral]

Originally Posted by jnorris

There are so many ways people can find my address already, that taking this one away wouldn't amount to a hill of beans. I've got more important things to worry about than whether an N number search will lead to my address. Google will do that already, so what's the big deal?

Agreed, Doesn't take a lot of time to find anyone's address or other info on the net.

[BMC_Dave]

It doesn't, but there should be at least some barrier, not just an open database for all. I see there are some legitimate uses and those people should still have access, but it need not be so easy.