Feb. 6, 2024
The FAA recently announced expanded availability of the Privacy ICAO Address (PIA) program to include certain offshore and Gulf of Mexico routes.
The PIA program is relevant for flights beginning and terminating within the sovereign and territorial airspace of the U.S. The program may also be used for U.S.-managed flight information regions (i.e., offshore and oceanic airspace) beyond 12 nautical miles offshore.
The PIA prevents non-FAA, third-party data sources from capturing ICAO aircraft addresses from ADS-B Out transmissions. Instead, aircraft participating in PIA use an alternate, temporary ICAO address that isn’t tied to the Civil Aviation Registry. It is applicable to U.S.-registered aircraft equipped with 1090 MHz ADS-B using a third-party call sign.
PIA began in January 2020, with the mandate for ADS-B Out. NBAA requested early on that PIA be available for offshore and Gulf of Mexico routes.
“We applaud the FAA for their efforts to expand the PIA program and work with the industry to ensure we continue to enhance the program,” said Heidi Williams, NBAA senior director, air traffic services and infrastructure. “Some operators have a legitimate security need to ensure privacy and this new policy is a welcome change for those operators.”
NBAA brought the request for more wide-spread PIA applicability in early 2020, and continually worked with the agency to ensure the program’s successful expansion.
Some examples of new applicability of the PIA program include:
- A flight from Miami to Houston, over the Gulf of Mexico
- A flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii
- A flight from Boston to Miami, on routes offshore more than 12 nautical miles
However, because the expanded PIA program is applicable to sovereign and territorial U.S. airspace and U.S. managed flight information regions, a flight to New York City to London would not be eligible.
Learn more about the PIA, including how to apply, where PIA is available and more at the FAA’s ADS-B Privacy resource page.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.