Congress May Block the Public From Tracking Private Jets
upstart writes:
Good news may be coming for Elon Musk and other uberwealthy folks with private jets. The FAA reauthorization bill, which was recently passed by the House, may soon block the public from learning about the flights people take on private jets, according to Axios. While it may be good news in the eyes of the rich, it's bad news for everyone else.
The Tesla, SpaceX and X (ugh) CEO has said in the past that people having access to their flight data can pose a security risk, but Axios asserts that the information has proven to be very useful for journalists and other researchers. This sort of tracking has always been part of public record, but until online flight trackers started taking off (I'm so sorry), it was sort of a pain in the ass for most people to learn who owned private planes and where they were going.
The outlet reports that a provision deep inside the five-year FAA reauthorization bill would require the agency to establish a process that would let jet owners request to keep their planes' registration numbers and other information private. That's lame as hell. The bill reportedly passed the House by a 351-69 (nice) vote in July, and now it must be reconciled with the Senate before President Biden can sign it.
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