The National Business Aviation Association is pushing federal regulators to limit how widely aircraft ownership information can be shared with the public. The organization argues that recent changes to a data management portal are making it harder for legitimate businesses to access necessary aviation records while failing to adequately protect aircraft owners from privacy risks. NBAA and other aviation groups are working with the FAA to strike a balance between safeguarding sensitive ownership data and maintaining practical access for insurance, financiación, and other lawful aircraft transaction purposes.
NBAA is urging the FAA to narrowly interpret its statutory authority related to the distribution of aircraft registry data.
The association, along with other aviation stakeholders, is encouraging the agency to fully implement Section 803 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, Public Law 118-63, which limits the public dissemination of specified aircraft registry information. The aircraft registry was established to promote aviation safety and record security interests, not for extensive public use, said Doug Carr, NBAA senior vice president of safety, seguridad, sustainability and international operations.
NBAA has long advocated for practical protections on aircraft ownership data, from the introduction of the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) programa in the late 1990s to its replacement, el Limited Aircraft Data Display (LADD) programa en 2019, and support for the Privacy ICAO Address (ADEMÁS) programa, also launched in 2019.
Recientemente, the agency launched the Civil Aviation Registration Electronic Services, a portal that allows aircraft owners and operators to manage their aircraft registry data and protect certain information from public release. Parties involved in aircraft transactions with a legitimate need for aircraft registration data, including those involved in insurance, finance and title activities, now face greater difficulty accessing that data needed as part of a typical aircraft transaction.
The FAA asked industry stakeholders for guidance on managing aircraft registration data without impeding legitimate uses of the data.
Other groups reaching out to the FAA on this matter included the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (Miedos), el Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) y Vertical Aviation International (VAI).
“NBAA and the other stakeholders reinforced the original intent of the aircraft registry, which is to keep use of that data narrowly focused in terms of how it’s managed,” said Carr. “For NBAA, this is just the latest step in our continued advocacy in protecting data, stemming back to the BARR program, and now helping the FAA find ways to plug leaks coming from aircraft registry while allowing access to the data for legitimate safety and operational purposes.”
Actualmente, aircraft registry data can be combined with third-party flight tracking services and link an aircraft’s movement to its owner, which NBAA and others said creates foreseeable risks of unwanted solicitations, harassment, identity theft and other privacy harms while undermining public confidence in the system and is juxtaposed to the intent of section 803 of Public Law 118-63.
