The Montana House of Representatives passed a bill limiting the use of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data to assess landing fees on certain aircraft.
Kudos to Rep. Klakken for stepping into the vacuum created by the DOGEfying of the FAA, which has bigger (and stinkier) fish to fry right now. Of course, one purpose of having a “federal” aviation administration is to avoid a patchwork of rules that change at every state boundary.
Edmund Burke said “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” But don’t pay any attention to me. We’ve already fought one war over “States Rights”, and my state lost (thankfully).
Is anyone really surprised adding new surveillance techniques leads to more surveillance? Sure, it’s great for traffic avoidance and safety, but when you make its use mandatory some agency is always going to find a way to use it for other purposes.
And you think a piece of paper (the bill) is going to stop it?
And you think a piece of paper (the bill) is going to stop it?
It may not stop the surveillance, but it will stop the billing.
The act - succinctly entitled: "AN ACT REVISING AERONAUTICS LAWS RELATED TO THE USE OF AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT SURVEILLANCE-BROADCASTS; AND PROVIDING DEFINITIONS” - addresses how the data is used, not how it was harvested. Specifically:
Section 1. Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcasts.
(1) No entity, whether a division of government or a private company or corporation, may use information broadcast or collected by automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast systems, whether that data originates from ADS-B In or ADS-B Out, as a means for calculating, generating, and collecting fees from aircraft owners or operators who operate aircraft within the geographic boundaries of the state.
[The act also defines the various terms used and restricts applicability to A/C weighing 9,000 lbs or less.]
This is legitimizing the use of ADSB for profit by a private company: Vector. The bill should be to make it illegal to use your ADSB for any profiteering.
Please re-read @rpstrong’s comment above. They quote the act as saying, “No entity, whether a division of government or a private company or corporation, may use….” Are you saying that does not cover a private company?
I hope this prevention is copied by other states. California is using ADS-B data to track aircraft movements so as to apply property tax assessments, and this should be illegal (but it’s not).
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