New Privacy Protections for Aircraft Owners Issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

On March 28, 2025, the FAA published a notice indicating that it implemented Section 803 (Data Privacy) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which allows private aircraft owners to request that their names, addresses, and other personally identifiable information (PII)  be withheld from public view or dissemination on FAA websites. The FAA is also considering a broader approach that may categorically withhold this information by default, but it has yet to be implemented. Requests can be submitted electronically through the Civil Aviation Registry Electronic Services (CARES) portal.

 

For the time being, anyone that is an FAA public documents room licensee (e.g. local FAA registration counsel and Oklahoma title companies) has access to the FAA’s mainframe and can access relevant information for the purpose of closings.

 

The FAA is currently seeking public comment on the impacts of this notice through May 5, 2025.

 

Why This Matters: This announcement is a big step forward in ensuring aircraft owners’ personal information is kept out of the public view which of course contributes to safety and security. With PII now being capable of being withheld from FAA websites and searches, aircraft owners will soon be able to operate their aircraft without the fear of their PII being visible to the public.

 

One thing to note, however, is that the announcement does not limit the information obtainable by the public from the aircraft’s transponder ADS-B broadcast (which contains information such as location, altitude, ground speed, etc.) of an aircraft at any given time, including the identity of the aircraft operator (which could be the owner or the lessee of the aircraft).

 

While not discussed in the notice, we anticipate that there will be public comments, which may prompt additional action from the FAA.