In a significant legislative change, the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill recently signed into law by President Joe Biden will allow private aircraft owners to keep their registration information anonymous.
The new amendment, passed in the Senate with an 88-4 vote and in the House with a 387 to 26 vote, responds to long-standing complaints from high-profile individuals like singer Taylor Swift and Tesla CEO Elon Musk about the ease with which the public can track their private jet locations.
Previously, private plane owners were required to register their aircraft ownership information with the FAA civil registry, making the information publicly accessible. The transparency enabled online enthusiasts and environmental activists to combine public registration data with open radar mapping, effectively tracking the movement of private jets owned by wealthy individuals.
The Warzone initially reported that the new FAA reauthorization bill aimed to make it much more difficult to monitor the flight activities of VIPs. The law permits private aircraft owners to request that the government conceal personal identifying information associated with their planes.
The change has raised concerns among environmental advocates, who argue that such transparency is crucial for holding affluent individuals accountable for their carbon emissions.
The issue of jet tracking gained widespread attention when Mr. Musk threatened legal action against Jack Sweeney, a University of Florida undergraduate who created a Twitter account tracking Mr. Musk’s private jet movements. Mr. Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022 led to Mr. Sweeney being initially shadow-banned and subsequently banned from the platform, although he has since been reinstated on Twitter’s successor, X.
Ms. Swift has also faced scrutiny over her air travel habits, largely due to Mr. Sweeney’s monitoring efforts. In 2023, Mr. Sweeney compiled a video showing that Ms. Swift’s private jet had flown approximately 178,000 miles, emitting an estimated 1,200 tons of CO2. These figures are significantly higher than the average American’s carbon footprint, leading to public criticism and even a cease-and-desist order from Ms. Swift’s legal team in February.
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