Angel Flight

flyerfocus

flyerfocus

Filing Flight Plan
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Dec 19, 2021
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flyerfocus
I responded to a posting for pilots by Angel Flight and now they're asking for my PII to facilitate a background check. I'm not familiar with them and want to make sure they're legit before I give out things like my Social Security number. Anyone have experience with them?
 
flyerfocus said:
I responded to a posting for pilots by Angel Flight and now they're asking for my PII to facilitate a background check. I'm not familiar with them and want to make sure they're legit before I give out things like my Social Security number. Anyone have experience with them?
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Hmmm, I don't remember doing that.
 
Angel Flight has been around for a very long time. There are regional units, I belong to AFWest. Reputable, 501(c)3, does not waste donations. These days, anyone flying charitable usually goes thru some sort of background check, ‘specially if there are kids involved. Do some research on the group, you’ll be convinced.
 
flyerfocus said:
to make sure they're legit
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Check whether the local organization (where you want to sign-up to volunteer) is affiliated with the Air Care Alliance.

The ACA acts as an umbrella organization for Public Benefit/volunteer pilot organizations. Most ‘Angel Flight’ groups are members of ACA, and listed on the ACA website.

If doubts remain, give ACA a call.

Flying and helping those in need … so rewarding!
 
Don't forget the ground element of the trips
 
I am a Command Pilot in Angel Flight West. I don't recall being asked for my SSAN when I joined, but that was a number of years ago.
 
As noble a cause and intentions as Angel Flight is/has, I'd tell them to go pound sand. No one but my financials get my SSN.

You send it to them in an email. Email goes through a chain of servers before being delivered (check the full header sometime). Then some stranger reads the email. Then they enter it into a likely insecure database like an Excel spreadsheet. This protects them from future liability as supporting proof they ran a background check. How many employees/volunteers have access? Then they submit all your info (name, address, SSN) to some other service doing the background check. How many people at the background service have access? Then they save the results in another or the same likely insecure database, again for liability reasons. In the end, at least dozens of people will have or have had access to your SSN.

Ever been a victim of true identity theft? And I don't mean bogus charges to a credit card. Nothing is worth unraveling from a car loan or mortgage you did not initiate.
 
Domenick said:
As noble a cause and intentions as Angel Flight is/has, I'd tell them to go pound sand. No one but my financials get my SSN.
.
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how do you propose a background check be done without PII?
 
Yes, I am always wary of giving out my SSN. It's not going in unencrypted email. It's an encrypted web page.
 
Bob Noel said:
how do you propose a background check be done without PII?
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I didn't suggest providing no PII. In my rather knee-jerk, hyperbolic reaction :) I objected to providing my SSN.

The first question that came to my mind was how many pilots does AF reject due to SSN background check results?

With public access to FAA records, NTSB records, with ADS-B tracking, with flight following for VFR and flight plans for IFR, I question the need for a background check. Plus, do not all minors need to accompanied by an adult? If you feel like a background check must be done, there are dozens of background check services that do not require a SSN.
 
Domenick said:
As noble a cause and intentions as Angel Flight is/has, I'd tell them to go pound sand. No one but my financials get my SSN.

You send it to them in an email. Email goes through a chain of servers before being delivered (check the full header sometime). Then some stranger reads the email. Then they enter it into a likely insecure database like an Excel spreadsheet. This protects them from future liability as supporting proof they ran a background check. How many employees/volunteers have access? Then they submit all your info (name, address, SSN) to some other service doing the background check. How many people at the background service have access? Then they save the results in another or the same likely insecure database, again for liability reasons. In the end, at least dozens of people will have or have had access to your SSN.

Ever been a victim of true identity theft? And I don't mean bogus charges to a credit card. Nothing is worth unraveling from a car loan or mortgage you did not initiate.
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For $10 I can find pretty much anything on anyone. As Larry Ellison said, there’s no privacy anymore.
 
I might be a little desensitized when it comes to handing out my SSN since it has been spray painted on nearly everything I've owned for decades..

Having said that, the nonprofit I work with doesn't ask for that info but also doesn't allow minors to fly unaccompanied.
 
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