I readily agree that money is the root of all evil - and good. Let’s be honest, without financial incentives very little is done. But that does not justify opportunistic leaches usurping the system.
The flying public needed to be convinced that they should buy into ADS-B with expensive equipment. We could just as easily have decided to avoid class Charlie and Bravo airspace and kept several thousand dollars in our wallets, but without participation, the system loses value. We were sold a system that would cost the FAA money to build and cost the participants money to equip for, but it would provide efficiencies to the FAA ($ savings over time) and increased safety for the aviators. Win-win. It also required trust that it would not be abused.
If I had been told that I should spend several thousand dollars so that anyone tracking government data could decide at their discretion that I should be billed any amount they choose, or scrutinized for possible violations and sued or fined, I would have immediately said “No thank you”.
As an example, I enjoy using Google Maps, it is a fantastic service. I know Google collects my data and sells it. They can provide the mapping service to me because they make money from the meta data the users generate. But if Google started selling my location to local municipalities in order that they charge me a virtual “toll” because I happened to drive through their town, or issuing citations because I didn’t appear to make a full and complete stop at an intersection, I would immediately delete every Google app off my phone, use paper maps and leave my phone at home. I suppose they would all say they were within their rights to do it, and maybe they want to discourage traffic from out-of-towners, but for my part, I would immediately stop participating in the service that facilitated it.
The airports that are opting in to this service readily admit that they are participating in the program in order to discourage students from utilizing their field. I don’t necessarily enjoy a pattern full of students, but if they are permitted to use ADS-B to push out specifically targeted unwanted traffic, it won’t be long before ADS-B data is used to support a litany of restrictive and punitive measures that will twist and contort the flying public according to the whim of any political activist on every municipal and town board across the country.
Allowing unrestricted use of ADS-B data by third parties for purposes other than aviation safety and efficiency is a mistake and will drive participants out of the system.