Last week, legislation was introduced in Congress aimed at restricting ADS-B data usage for punitive measures.
The Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act seeks to prohibit both governmental and private organizations from using ADS-B data to impose fines on operators, as well as clarify that tracking information will only be utilized by air traffic controllers (ATCs) for safety reasons or purposes approved by the Department of Transportation. The bill also restricts investigations initiated solely on the basis of ADS-B data.
Introduced in both congressional chambers, the effort is being led by Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and is joined by Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.). Representative Bob Onder (R-Mo.) handled the bill’s introduction in the House.
The initiative comes after calls of concerns from industry partners that ADS-B data is being used beyond its stated goal of improving safety and efficiency.
In February, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association president Darren Pleasance wrote a letter to acting FAA administrator Chris Rocheleau requesting the agency halt the usage of ADS-B data for “frivolous lawsuits” and other punitive measures.
“Aircraft owners invested over half a billion dollars of their own money to comply with the ADS-B mandate, believing it would only be used to make flying safer and more efficient,” Pleasance wrote. “Instead, they are increasingly being targeted with enforcement actions, legal harassment, and bills from third parties to collect airport fees—things that are far from the equipage mandate’s original purpose.”
These concerns are not unfounded. It was reported last year that the city of Superior, Colorado, commissioned a series of studies using ADS-B data to bolster a noise pollution lawsuit against Jefferson County’s Rocky Mountain Metro Airport (KBJC). The studies analyzed the ADS-B data, combined with decibel levels to determine if an aircraft was taking off, landing, performing touch-and-go operations or overflying the airport.
While the lawsuit was dismissed, questions remain about ADS-B information being used for surveillance by outside organizations.
Pitched as a strict safety measure, the FAA announced its mandate of ADS-B technology in all aircraft in August 2010, describing the measure for “air traffic controllers to safely and efficiently accommodate aircraft operations and the expected increase in demand for air transportation.” As the mandate became full time practice in 2020, many pilots became skeptical of its intended use.
Some changes to the system have been made. As part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, private aircraft operators can request that the FAA withhold their data from public view. Still, industry partners like the AOPA say additional work is needed to protect the aviation community from unnecessary privacy breaches.
While the Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act makes its way through Congress, Montana is the only state to have passed similar legislation, prohibiting ADS-B use for the levying of fees.
Signed into law in May, House Bill 571 states “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.”
