Ensuring Effective FAA Data Protections

Industry stakeholders, including NBAA, remain focused on balancing the need to protect personally identifiable information (PII) about aircraft operators and flight movements from prying eyes with ensuring such information is readily accessible for legitimate uses.

Doug Carr, NBAA senior vice president of safety, security, sustainability and international operations, noted open access to such data is key to facilitating aircraft transactions. “The U.S. registry represents $20-$30 billion worth of aircraft transactions every year,” he said. “Lack of access to full information degrades the due diligence necessary with these transactions.”

In March 2025, the FAA enabled owners to remove their PII from public view in the U.S. aircraft registry through the Civil Aviation Registry Electronic Services (CARES) system. The agency also solicited industry feedback on this and other data protection measures.

“It’s possible to achieve the security of PII without compromising the registry’s functions,” NBAA emphasized in comments submitted to the agency last June. The FAA is now working through the more than 200 comments received, though Carr noted progress has been slow due to several factors, including the recent federal government shutdown.

“We’ve also shared a potential model for this process based on Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) guidelines for sharing driver information,” he added. “The DOT outlines 14 legitimate uses of such data, including for research and insurance purposes. That doesn’t mean I can take your license plate number to the DMV and find your address.”

In addition to aircraft transactions, information on the FAA registry is also used by OEMs to send out safety critical information to aircraft owners. Carr also noted other “unintended consequences” from the FAA’s protection measures, including reports of aircraft owner information disappearing completely off the registry.

“The FAA is moving as quickly as possible to develop a process that meets the needs of owners while facilitating legitimate transaction activity,” he added. “The agency has also been extremely receptive to our suggestions of bringing the industry together to propose ways to deal with these challenges.

“But the longer we wait, I think we’re going to have more people signing up for something they may not fully appreciate in terms of what they’re signing up for,” Carr continued. “And we need to begin figuring out the transaction side of the equation.”

Options to limit public accessibility to off-aircraft tracking data, including the Limited Aircraft Data Displayed (LADD) and Privacy ICAO Address (PIA) programs, have proven successful. “We’re hearing from participants that PIA and LADD absolutely work for operators who take their tracking seriously,” Carr said. “The programs are effective in staying ahead of the flight tracking sites out there.”

Learn more about security best practices at nbaa.org/security.