From the beginning, aircraft owners lost their minds over the idea that mandate-compliant ADS-B Out equipment might be used for more than just better traffic separation. Collecting usage fees were among the obvious concerns and a deeper dive into the data that’s actually being transmitted from both 1090ES transponders and UAT (Universal Access Transceiver) transmitters indeed proves that there is no so-called privacy when the system is enabled. They know you’re coming and when you got there. Blocking your tail number from Flightaware won’t help with anonymity. And so over five years into the mandate, AOPA (which strongly supported the 2020 equipment mandate) last month fired off a letter to acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau protesting use of ADS-B data in “ways that go beyond its original intent,” and saying in part that the alphabet “was assured ADS-B would only be used to improve air traffic safety and airspace efficiencies.” I hate to say it, but AOPA members called it out long before nearly a half-billion dollars was invested in the drawn-out equipage mandate. Roughly 112,000 GA aircraft are equipped with a variety of ADS-B Out systems. The image at the top is a uAvionix tailBeacon, which along with the company’s skyBeacon has been a popular low-cost option for entry-level aircraft.
AOPA’s letter addressed to Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau (and copied to DOT Secretary Sean Duffy, U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell and Representatives Sam Graves and Rick Larsen) went on to say that aircraft owners are now seeing “FAA enforcement actions based on ADS-B data to prevent legal water landings or frivolous lawsuits where complainants are suing for nuisance, trespass and intentional infliction of emotional distress for aircraft flying at 4000 feet AGL in full compliance with FAA requirements.” AOPA points out that these are creating litigious and costly problems for owners. Moreover, AOPA said that streamed ADS-B Out data has created a cottage industry of companies contracting with public-use airports that are using the data to collect airport fees.
Worth mentioning, and AOPA’s Darren Pleasance acknowledged it in his letter, is the FAA’s PIA (Privacy ICAO Address) program. This is where an alternate address is programmed into the U.S.-registered aircraft transponder (only 1090ES transponders are eligible) in place of the aircraft’s permanently assigned ICAO address, masking the aircraft registration to public tracking sites. The aircraft operator must also use a third-party call sign for flight plan filing from a provider that has FAA registered call signs, such as ForeFlight. The PIA isn’t exactly practical for all operators because changing the PIA back to the permanent assigned ICAO address is a maintenance function and usually requires reprogramming the transponder. In other words, pilots can’t program the address data on the fly. The first step in the PIA process to obtain a third-party call sign is getting an inflight ADS-B performance report to make sure the system is fully functional—a smart move for everyone with ADS-B Out. Link to the PIA program instructions.