New FAA Rule Allows Private Jet Owners to Maintain Travel Secrecy

Safety concerns have been raised regarding the tracking of high-profile individuals traveling in private jets.

Private jets are seen on the tarmac at Friedman Memorial Airport ahead of the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho on July 4, 2022. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is implementing a data privacy policy that allows people with private jets to hide travel information from the public.

“Private aircraft owners and operators can now electronically request that the FAA withhold their aircraft registration information from public view,” the agency said in a March 28 statement.

“Starting today, they can submit a request through the Civil Aviation Registry Electronic Services (CARES) to withhold this information from public display on all FAA websites.”

In its statement, the FAA said the data protection decision was taken based on a privacy provision included in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.

The provision allows aircraft owners to request that certain personally identifiable information not be made publicly available via FAA websites.

“The FAA will publish a request for comment in the Federal Register to seek input on this measure, including whether removing the information would affect the ability of stakeholders to perform necessary functions, such as maintenance, safety checks, and regulatory compliance,” said the agency.

“The FAA is also evaluating whether to default to withholding the personally identifiable information of private aircraft owners and operators from the public aircraft registry.”

While some say that such trackers allow people to record carbon emission info, there have been concerns that monitoring aircraft movements puts at risk the people who use that mode of transportation, often high-profile individuals.

The new rule could negatively affect jet trackers that use FAA information as a key source to track and report flight details of famous personalities.

In December 2023, attorneys for Taylor Swift issued a cease-and-desist letter to a university student, blaming his automated tracking of her private jet travel for revealing the celebrity’s whereabouts to stalkers.

The letter accused the student of “willful and repeated harassment” as well as “intentional, offensive, and outrageous conduct and consistent violations” of Swift’s privacy.

Attorneys alleged that the student essentially offered “individuals intent on harming her, or with nefarious or violent intentions, a roadmap to carry out their plans.”

In 2022, social media platform X, then named Twitter, suspended several accounts that tracked private planes, including those of Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk. The platform prohibited the sharing of real-time location data, citing a “risk of physical harm.”

Some cite the high carbon emissions to question the integrity of wealthy celebrities and politicians who advocate fighting climate change while flying around in private jets.

In 2023, Klara Maria Schenk, a transport campaigner for Greenpeace’s European mobility campaign, called the use of private jets at the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting a “distasteful masterclass of hypocrisy” since the WEF said it is committed to tackling the so-called human-induced or anthropogenic climate concerns.