New legislation introduced by Congress would federally restrict the use of ADS-B flight tracking data for non-safety-related purposes. The Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act, introduced in the House and Senate on June 26, would prohibit the use of ADS-B data to assess fees or initiate enforcement actions unrelated to safety, and explicitly reaffirm that its intended use is for air traffic management and situational awareness.
The proposed legislation would bar the use of ADS-B data to collect landing or access fees, and would expand language in the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act preventing investigations based solely on ADS-B evidence. Also, the bills require that public-use airports make the cost impacts of any new landing fees transparent and stipulate that such fees must be used to fund airside safety improvements. The bills were introduced by Senator Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) and Representative Bob Onder (R-Missouri), both pilots, and co-sponsored by Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Tim Sheehy (R-Montana).
Some state governments have already begun to act. Montana recently passed a law preventing airports from using ADS-B data to collect fees, and similar legislation has been introduced in Minnesota. But AOPA cautioned that a national policy is needed to prevent a patchwork of state laws. “We appreciate the recognition this issue is receiving at the state level, but…these bills in Congress are so important,” said AOPA president and CEO Darren Pleasance.
Pleasance praised lawmakers for advancing a federal solution. “Using ADS-B data for economic reasons clearly undermines the FAA’s 2020 ADS-B safety mandate,” he said. According to AOPA, pilots spent more than $600 million to comply with the FAA’s 2020 equipage requirement under the assurance that ADS-B would be used strictly for airspace safety.
This federal push follows long advocacy by AOPA and other industry groups. In February, the organization sent a letter to acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau warning that misuse of ADS-B data—particularly to support lawsuits, enforcement actions, or third-party landing fees—was creating a chilling effect on general aviation. “Pilots are now being forced to pay expensive legal fees to defend themselves,” the letter said.
AOPA noted that companies have been contracting with public-use airports to monitor ADS-B data and bill pilots directly—practices the group said raise both safety and privacy concerns. The association also warned that misuse of flight data runs counter to the FAA’s stated goals and threatens to discourage participation in a safety-critical program.
In March, the FAA implemented new measures to protect owner information from public exposure, as enabled under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. The agency now allows aircraft owners to block names and addresses from public FAA databases. While the aircraft registry change does not address ADS-B tracking directly, AOPA welcomed the added privacy protections and reiterated that flight data privacy remains a top concern. AOPA and NBAA cited security and personal safety as further reasons to shield pilot and operator data.