As of Monday, private aircraft owners were able to apply to shield their names and addresses from public view on FAA databases. The agency enacted a new rule allowing the owners to electronically request withholding the information for security reasons. The creation of the rule was mandated by the latest FAA Reauthorization. The agency is also looking for comments on the impacts of the change. The FAA will publish a request for comment in the Federal Register to seek input on this measure, including whether removing the information would affect the ability of stakeholders to perform necessary functions, such as maintenance, safety checks, and regulatory compliance. "The FAA is also evaluating whether to default to withholding the personally identifiable information of private aircraft owners and operators from the public aircraft registry and providing a means for owners and operators to download their data when needed," the agency said. Meanwhile, aviation groups are applauding the move.
The fact that you have to apply and the FAA may consider it based off of some vague notion of “security reasons” tells you everything you need to know. Rights for me but none for thee.
Your car registration is more private in every state than your FAA reg. The key question, is there a public benefit from having your information available to anyone and everyone?
If anything, if I were a crook who wanted to target someone with assets, I’d hang out at the local airport and write down N-numbers, and go to the FAA website for the owner information. To get that info from a luxury car owner, I would have to follow them around until they drove home. Much harder. Thanks, FAA.
I don’t disagree that home addresses should be hidden, but HIPPA doesn’t apply - the “HI” in HIPPA is for “health insurance”, and the registration database is not a covered entity.
HIPPA protect the privacy and security of patient health information, ensuring individuals have control over their medical data. I never gave consent that the FAA database publish my medical state or physical limitations (must wear eyeglasses, etc). It’s none of anyone’s business outside of the agency.
The article is about aircraft registration data, not pilot medical data. Aircraft registration data (which in this case includes name and address) is not medical data and thus does not fall under HIPPA.
Though as I said, I do agree it should be private. It’s just that in this case, HIPPA doesn’t have any say over this particular dataset.
HIPAA (not HIPPA) stands for “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act”. It applies to the health care industry (providers, hospitals, insurance companies, etc.)
From my understanding, it does not apply to the FAA listing your medical limitations on a public-facing web-site.
Many state agencies like child protective service agencies
Most law enforcement agencies
Many municipal offices
PS - I think the FAA should make such data visibility an “opt-in” setting, i.e. by default it’s blocked and you have to “opt in” to making it publicly available.
There are roadblocks to actually getting your personal information removed. I am on the fence trying to decide if this is typical incompetent government project management and tech work, or made purposefully difficult because Congress is forcing them to act through an appropriation bill.
Instead of a simple form with a checkbox “Remove my PII” (after logging in to the CARES system and proving your identity), you are required to upload a “PDF”.
There are no instructions of what content must be included on the PDF.
There are no examples.
There are no links to download a PDF with the necessary fields to fill out.
Generating a PDF from scratch requires purchasing and installing expensive software from Adobe.
The FAA has not responded to my inquiry for clarification. The email was sent to the help address specified at the bottom of the instructions page.