The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is making moves to shield the identities of private jet owners—but it might not be enough to ground jet-tracking enthusiasts.
A new rule, enacted last year and now officially in effect, allows private jet owners to request that their names and addresses be withheld from the FAA’s public records. The intent? To offer more privacy and potentially reduce the online exposure of high-profile individuals like Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, and other celebrities whose flight patterns are regularly posted on social media.
The FAA has introduced a streamlined electronic form for owners to opt into this privacy protection. Once submitted, ownership data will no longer be visible on the agency’s public platforms, such as the FAA Registry.
However, according to The Verge, this rule change may do little to stop popular flight-tracking accounts from publishing celebrity flight activity. That’s because many of these trackers use publicly accessible flight data—like ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast) signals—which provide real-time information about aircraft in the sky. These signals can be picked up by anyone with the right equipment, independent of FAA databases.
In fact, some high-profile tracking accounts have already said that the FAA’s registry data is only one of many sources they use. Even if names are removed, flight numbers and patterns can still be matched and identified through other means.
So while the FAA’s new privacy rule gives jet owners a way to opt out of public record exposure, it doesn’t fully ground the growing world of online plane-spotting. For now, if a celebrity’s jet is in the air, chances are—someone is still watching.
