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Flight Aware--Good/Bad

donaziza

Well Known Member
Got a question for you guys about FlightAware. Now don't everyone jump on me, I'm just politely asking. Seems like a great big invasion of privacy of a private VFR operator to me. If you read their own words, they say its not.:eek: I don't agree with a word of what they say. Now, if one goes down somewhere, yeah, then it would be a good deal to help being found. If a guy puts his ADS B in anonymous mode, will it stop FlightAware??
 
Got a question for you guys about FlightAware. Now don't everyone jump on me, I'm just politely asking. Seems like a great big invasion of privacy of a private VFR operator to me. If you read their own words, they say its not.:eek: I don't agree with a word of what they say. Now, if one goes down somewhere, yeah, then it would be a good deal to help being found. If a guy puts his ADS B in anonymous mode, will it stop FlightAware??

If you've selected anonymous mode, and if you're squawking 1200, FlightAware will not track you.
 
FlightAware

I've seen ADS-B tracks on FlightAware that show "Private" instead of the tail number, so it seems that it tracks anonymous ADS-B signals, but nobody knows who they are. It may be that if the airplane is in the system, then it shows the anonymous track. I'll pay more attention, I think if it shows altitude in even thousands, then it's an IFR flight, if it's thousands + 500 feet, VFR. As for the privacy issue, an email circulated just a few weeks ago on the local airport group from the local Sheriff's office, naming a guy who lives nearby and has been sending threatening emails to pilots who fly over his house, including the pilots' addresses. The deputy said right up front that the guy (named Ryan, ironically) was getting the info from the internet. Not sure what software he was using, but we all know it's real easy for anyone with a computer and an internet connexion to get that info. Conversely, it was easy for me to find his address, too, not that the info is very useful. But yeah, we've lost a good deal of privacy to the ADS-B mandate and the appearance of free tracking software. Keep in mind that the internet has been a resource anybody who can read a tail number and wants to know who owns 'that airplane' for decades. Not so easy with an automotive license plates.
 
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Got a question for you guys about FlightAware. Now don't everyone jump on me, I'm just politely asking. Seems like a great big invasion of privacy of a private VFR operator to me. If you read their own words, they say its not.:eek: I don't agree with a word of what they say. Now, if one goes down somewhere, yeah, then it would be a good deal to help being found. If a guy puts his ADS B in anonymous mode, will it stop FlightAware??

Great questions indeed and they highlight a true concern. If your ADS-B "out" solution is 1090 ES based then the aircraft owner's information is freely and readily available to all comers. Traditionally FlightAware tracks 1090ES but lately has started to also track UAT 978 equipped aircraft. If you are using UAT and are squawking VFR with "anonymous mode" enabled, then everybody can still track your target for see and avoid but the target will not disclose the aircraft owner's personal information (not even to the gubmit'). In the case of the GDL 82 and FreeFlight Rangr UAT your target is overlaid with "VFR" for ID instead of your registration information. If you have some of the uAvionix UAT equipment it will show as "Ping" something for ID.

More detail. ADS-B equipment with the UAT "out" frequency mode can provide for anonymous mode when paired with a Mode C transponder. When UAT equipment has anonymous mode enabled the equipment creates a randomized ICAO code internally so the aircraft position and performance data is transmitted with this randomized ICAO code. Since this happens onboard the aircraft without outside influence the anonymous mode privacy process does not give the ADS-B network the ability to figure out the aircraft owner's information in any way, shape or form. Not withstanding this keep in mind that just because UAT anonymous doesn't give the FAA's ADS-B network the target's owner information in real time doesn't mean they don't have more than a few other ways to track you down if you break FARs or engage in illegal activity. And if this type of privacy is important to you investigate how specific equipment deals with and engages anonymous mode. Some do it immediately on start up (better) and others require the unit to be pinged by ADS-B towers or other traffic prior to changing over to anonymous (worse).

The FAA has recently started offering call sign privacy for 1090ES but that option depends on the data being processed within the FAA ADS-B system, rather than by ADS-B equipment onboard the aircraft. Unlike UAT this 1090ES option doesn't hide the aircraft's ICAO code from individual ADS-B receivers in the field, it just replaces the N Number registration code with a pre-assigned authorized call sign. This option also requires the aircraft owner contract with a private 3rd party registration service ($$) to get a call sign and change it at regular intervals to keep more privacy. So 1090ES does not and cannot provide true privacy.

For true privacy it's hard to beat skipping over fancy new 1090ES transponders and staying with legacy Mode C paired with compliant stand-alone UAT equipment. And this is also the least expensive way to equip.

I have two FlighAware Flight Feeders at my airport. I am what FlightAware calls a "Feeder". One of the feeders is for 1090ES monitoring and the other is a brand new unit monitoring 978 UAT frequency traffic. So while I a true advocate for privacy I also mercilessly expose aircraft owner information of those without anonymous mode.
 
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I've got a uAvionix 978 UAT, and a Garmin 327 transponder. Two weeks ago, my local tower "was" reporting that all they could see on their radar, (for me), "was ping". Couldn't figure out what was wrong. Of course, it turned out I was in anonymous mode from the control on my cell phone. I'm not doing anything wrong, just don't like Big brother watching me. Also, its showing me at 7200 ft, one way, and 8200 coming back, so I guess its using pressure altitude. ( I was at 7500 ft indicated going, and 8500 coming back)

For the 1090 Airlines, its of course a different story.
 
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I've got a uAvionix 978 UAT, and a Garmin 327 transponder. Two weeks ago, my local tower "was" reporting that all they could see on their radar, (for me), "was ping". Couldn't figure out what was wrong. Of course, it turned out I was in anonymous mode from the control on my cell phone. I'm not doing anything wrong, just don't like Big brother watching me. Also, its showing me at 7200 ft, one way, and 8200 coming back, so I guess its using pressure altitude. ( I was at 7500 ft indicated going, and 8500 coming back)

For the 1090 Airlines, its of course a different story.

I have the same setup. The UAvionix app lets me toggle in and out of anonymous mode easily using my iPhone. Between my EchoUAT, my AFS5400 EFIS, and various GoPros, I have a pretty busy little WiFi hub up there.
 
Got a question for you guys about FlightAware. Now don't everyone jump on me, I'm just politely asking. Seems like a great big invasion of privacy of a private VFR operator to me. If you read their own words, they say its not.:eek: I don't agree with a word of what they say. Now, if one goes down somewhere, yeah, then it would be a good deal to help being found. If a guy puts his ADS B in anonymous mode, will it stop FlightAware??

OR...

You can send the following email to the FAA at [email protected]. Their response was very prompt. This doesn't 'turn off' ADS-B, but they no longer share my info with FlightAware or any of the other 'Awares'. If you search for N260KM on FlightAware, you get this: "Error: This flight is restricted from public viewing." Of course, that feed stays off until/unless you send another request to have it turned on.

------

Hello.
I am the owner of aircraft N260KM (Mayeux RV-7A) and I request that my ASDI information be blocked.
Please block at the Industry level.

Thank you,
[ name ]
[ address ]
[ address ]
 
Is FlightAware good or bad? Like most things, it's both. One has to decide which side they value most. One one side, you lose privacy. On the other side you gain visibility so others can know where you are at all times.

My family loves having the ability to track me if they are not flying with me. Plus, if I do go down, it's comforting to know this tool is out there to assist in finding me.

However, I was made very aware of the loss of privacy when I got a message from someone that saw a picture of my plane on this website, saw I was making a trip to their area via my trail number and FlightAware, knew which airport I landed at, went into hangar to "admire" my plane, all without me knowing it!!!! I was flattered that someone wanted to see my plane in person, but it did feel a little weird knowing I was so easy to track by someone I've never met or talked to.

So, it's both good and bad. I am choosing to give up the privacy for the benefits. I totally see why others may choose differently than me. Good you know you do have options to choose either way!
 
OR...

You can send the following email to the FAA at [email protected]. Their response was very prompt. This doesn't 'turn off' ADS-B, but they no longer share my info with FlightAware or any of the other 'Awares'.

It's worth noting, however, that this is an incomplete solution. Technically, getting your tail # on the block list only affects flight-tracking sites that make use of the FAA-provided position data, and it also only affects that specific data. Which is to say, position data pulled out of thin air by receiver devices is unaffected by the FAA block list.

What this means is that FlightAware could legally still provide tracking for your blocked aircraft, so long as it didn't make use of FAA-provided position data. However, they respect your obvious wishes to not be tracked by the general public, which is why your aircraft remains untrackable.

The reason this is worth noting is that not every tracker service takes this position. Perhaps the most notorious is ADS-B Exchange, essentially a community-based tracking service that does not deal with the FAA and explicitly (and proudly) rejects any notion of privacy.

The upcoming PIA program (what jliltd has mentioned) is a more perfect solution for this problem, but it's not free like the block list due to the requirement to use a third-party callsign.
 
Is FlightAware good or bad? Like most things, it's both. One has to decide which side they value most. One one side, you lose privacy. On the other side you gain visibility so others can know where you are at all times.

My family loves having the ability to track me if they are not flying with me. Plus, if I do go down, it's comforting to know this tool is out there to assist in finding me.

However, I was made very aware of the loss of privacy when I got a message from someone that saw a picture of my plane on this website, saw I was making a trip to their area via my trail number and FlightAware, knew which airport I landed at, went into hangar to "admire" my plane, all without me knowing it!!!! I was flattered that someone wanted to see my plane in person, but it did feel a little weird knowing I was so easy to track by someone I've never met or talked to.

So, it's both good and bad. I am choosing to give up the privacy for the benefits. I totally see why others may choose differently than me. Good you know you do have options to choose either way!

I ran into an example of the good side of this last year - very similar story to yours, the guy showed up to look at my airplane after I flew in for work. I guess he liked what he saw because he looked me up from from the registration info, called me and started asking questions about the Vans series in general and the 9A specifically, and wanted to know if there was any chance I would take him up for a demo flight. A few weeks later I did one better and gave him right seat for a XC from Midland to Houston for a builders lunch down there to meet some of the other guys, and the hook was set. Within a month he had located a partially built kit for sale and bought it. He's nearing completion on it now, wiring the panel currently.

But yes, you are not alone in seeing the nefarious side of it as well - it's real.
 
OK, I gotta ask---How does FlightAware make its money?:confused: Why are they even there??:confused::confused:

They sell your data (who, what, where you are).

In my opinion the entire issue here is that the FAA makes the a/c registry publicly available (unlike state DMVs who do not share auto registration data - at least as far as I know). Without this registry data there wouldn’t be any personally identifiable data shared via ADSB.

Never heard a good reason for the registry to be public.
 
I'll go you one better...

A couple of weeks ago I got invited by my CFI buddy to act as his safety pilot while he did his required practice currency approaches under the hood. As an aspiring instrument student, I was happy to help out and see from the right seat how my future CFII handles the RV-10 and the same avionics package I have in my plane, in simulated conditions at the same airports I will be frequenting when I start my training. It was a pleasant and very informative experience. I went to FlightAware a few days ago to see the tracks it would have saved of the instrument practice approaches we flew, just for fun.

To my surprise, after entering his tail number, instead of seeing his most recent flight, I saw the flight he was going to make the next day. Apparently if you file an IFR flight plan the night before, FlightAware is aware, and posts your filed plan at the top of your list of archived flights.

I had a little fun texting him about his upcoming trip. "You stalking me?" "Not on purpose." I explained what had happened. "Hmmm" was his reply. Neither of us is exactly sure how we feel about this lack of privacy, but in the wrong hands it could certainly pose an issue. I suspect that even "anonymous mode" would not keep the site from advertising your plans to the world.
 
No one needs to KNOW this type of information other the FAA ,ATC, and whoever I choose to tell. There's absolutely no necessary or legitimate reason for the general public to know where my aircraft is or has been or yours either!!
 
No one needs to KNOW this type of information other the FAA ,ATC, and whoever I choose to tell. There's absolutely no necessary or legitimate reason for the general public to know where my aircraft is or has been or yours either!!
+1.
If someone proposed a system where anyone could track any car all the time and get the persons name and address, don't we think people would FREAK OUT? It makes no sense to me that this has happened with so little pushback from the aviation community.

I have and will continue to advocate against siting of any third-party ADS-B receivers being sited at our airport, and I "opted out" of public reporting soon after I installed ADS-B. Unfortunately my unit doesn't provide anonymous mode. I would like it of my family could track me but if there's a need I know it can be done.
 
They sell your data (who, what, where you are).

In my opinion the entire issue here is that the FAA makes the a/c registry publicly available (unlike state DMVs who do not share auto registration data - at least as far as I know). Without this registry data there wouldn’t be any personally identifiable data shared via ADSB.

Never heard a good reason for the registry to be public.

They sell your data (who, what, where you are).

Who would buy it??? Who cares???
 
No one needs to KNOW this type of information other the FAA ,ATC, and whoever I choose to tell. There's absolutely no necessary or legitimate reason for the general public to know where my aircraft is or has been or yours either!!

+1.
If someone proposed a system where anyone could track any car all the time and get the persons name and address, don't we think people would FREAK OUT? It makes no sense to me that this has happened with so little pushback from the aviation community.

I have and will continue to advocate against siting of any third-party ADS-B receivers being sited at our airport, and I "opted out" of public reporting soon after I installed ADS-B. Unfortunately my unit doesn't provide anonymous mode. I would like it of my family could track me but if there's a need I know it can be done.

And that's my whole point. Nobody "needs" this info other than the FAA who (arguably) uses the info for flight safety and ATC purposes beyond what the (arguably) archaic radar and transponder capabilities provide. Beyond that, in my (arguably) EXPERT opinion, nobody else needs my flight position/track/altitude/time history.

Just tell the FAA to note share it: https://vansairforce.net/community/showpost.php?p=1511902&postcount=7

The FAA still has your ADS-B Out info, and I believe they'll use the info to find me for rescue purposes. I have no doubt that, if I shine my butt, I have never really had a way to hide from them (as if I would ever do so). When it comes to the FAA, ADS-B's intent is about info sharing, not hiding. But beyond the FAA, I have no need nor desire to share.

I don't do Facebook. I don't tweet. FlightAware (and other online commercial ADS-B online trackers) know me not.
 
If you are equipped with approved ADS-B out via 1090ES or UAT without anonymous enabled you can very well ask the FAA not to share your information but that doesn't mean squat due to the hobbyist and tracking app ADS-B receivers getting data directly from your aircraft. They are seeing what is programmed in the onboard equipment and the equipment transmits your ICAO code directly to those ground-based receivers. There is no need to use the FAA database where your request to be removed is filed. And if you were to sign up for the other mentioned option of a private call sign (PIN) the immutable ICAO code will give you away. Attached is a photo of the current pricing for this "privacy PIN" service so it is really only an option for multi-million dollar jet-set crowd.

All my airplanes have UAT with anonymous mode except for one that came with a GTX 23 1090ES remote transponder. I plan on changing that out for a Mode C unit to regain anonymous capability at next mini makeover.
 

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I don't do Facebook. I don't tweet. FlightAware (and other online commercial ADS-B online trackers) know me not.

And based on a recent experience, I certainly don't use SIRI!!!

GTX23ES originally was able to be turned off. With the tides changing for anonymity, will Garmin update the GTX23ES to allow us to be nameless?
 
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They sell your data (who, what, where you are).

Who would buy it??? Who cares???

Flightaware is actually very big in the airline industry. Operators integrate it into their system to provide to frontline employees for example to provide data to customers on where a plane is. Operators also use flightaware for historical analysis and data crunching. Whether that's looking at average delays due to certain weather patterns or ATC delays for example the data flightaware has is frequently better and easier to access than what airlines have themselves. For example, we used it to troubleshoot a mechanical issue across a fleet of aircraft that we suspected had something to do with FAA's metroplex project and the change in descent profiles into big airports. The data we grabbed allowed us to overlay the route of each flight into the airport and overlay the descent profile, and compare it against historical data to spot trends. We could then correlate that with reports of mechanical difficulties and pinpoint the exact location and descent speed. Just one example of why you would pay for data from Flightaware.
 
That sounds like de-identified data. UAL 123 flew from JFK to LAX on March 30th. I can't look up the address of the pilots and go say hello. You'd need access to United's crew scheduling department, and that's not happening.

I can imagine someone cruising along and the clouds below start to get thicker. The person doesn't want to fly on top, so begins a series of descending turns to fly through a hole in the layer. Once clear underneath, heads on their merry way thinking it was a good decision. Well turns out those descending turns were over a "nut bar's" house. He tracks your flight and finds your address. Thrn he approaches you and starts making all sorts of wild accusations. You were spying, new invisible chemtrails, whatever.

Wouldn't it be better if people couldn't track one's every flight?

I'm all for personal freedoms. He can be a tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist and post videos on social media. I can go for a nice Sunday afternoon cruise to visit a friend. I don't want to read his mind, and I don't want him to track my flight.
 
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