This really is about flight following

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4RNB

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4RNB
In the process of trying to buy a plane, I searched a lot of different tail numbers trying to see what I could learn. The plane I bought I found less info about, could not see any recent flights. I am learning that one can sign up to have public ADSB data blocked. Do you do this? Why or why not? The main reason I can think to sign up for this is to keep sophisticated thieves from knowing when I am away from the house. For instance, a friend used to put all kinds of info on FB, figures her house was broken into by someone that knew she was at work because of her posts. What are your thoughts?

https://www.aerlex.com/protecting-your-privacy
 
If you lived alone, I guess a thief is could use flight tracking to determine when you are away from home. But there are other (more reliable) methods to accomplish the same thing.
 
It only blocks the public sharing, but if you are transmitting ADS-B the informal sites are definitely still tracking your plane’s hex code.
 
4RNB said:
The main reason I can think to sign up for this is to keep sophisticated thieves from knowing when I am away from the house.
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I'm not that interesting, so I'm much more worried about the unsophisticated thieves who just knock on the door to see if anyone's home or park down the block and wait for everyone to leave. I also worry more about someone taking a boot to my door or breaking a window than hacking my smart locks. So maybe my priorities are screwed up.
 
Palmpilot said:
Regarding FB, etc., I avoid mentioning trips online until after I get home.
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Not really on topic, but apropos your comment, I once sat next to a father and son on a flight to Vegas who told me they were flying out to surprise their daughter/sister who was at a bachelorette party. Their plan was simply watching her Instagram because she "checked in" everywhere the party went. I mentioned to the dad that he might want to discuss social-media safety with his daughter. It hadn't occurred to him that this was a potential issue.
 
Lindberg said:
Not really on topic, but apropos your comment, I once sat next to a father and son on a flight to Vegas who told me they were flying out to surprise their daughter/sister who was at a bachelorette party. Their plan was simply watching her Instagram because she "checked in" everywhere the party went. I mentioned to the dad that he might want to discuss social-media safety with his daughter. It hadn't occurred to him that this was a potential issue.
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Facebook allows me to limit who sees my postings (although I still don't post about trips in advance). Does Instagram have a similar feature?
 
I was discussing this with my oldest brother last night and pointed out that in the world we live in with smart phones, card readers, plate readers, retina scans, facial recognition cameras, door bell cameras, and perhaps some of you have GPS on your work vehicle or have a badge to scan at work, etc., not to mention all the folks on all the social media sites telling the world where they (and sometimes you) are, there can really be no expectation of privacy. This will go even further into the dumpster with drones doing deliveries, contact tracing for viruses, yada, yada, yada.

My only hope is that a criminal is smart enough to go someplace where it might be worth what it will cost them as I don't have much to give ... well maybe some old lead pieces I got laying around here somewhere ... :eek:
 
I'm not naive enough to think someone really cares every time I'm flying. I've never locked my house. I built it myself in 2016 and I have no idea what I did with the keys. People generally leave for work around the same time every day giving them roughly an 8 hour window to ransack. I'm also the same guy who has never had FB.
 
4RNB said:
In the process of trying to buy a plane, I searched a lot of different tail numbers trying to see what I could learn. The plane I bought I found less info about, could not see any recent flights. I am learning that one can sign up to have public ADSB data blocked. Do you do this? Why or why not? The main reason I can think to sign up for this is to keep sophisticated thieves from knowing when I am away from the house. For instance, a friend used to put all kinds of info on FB, figures her house was broken into by someone that knew she was at work because of her posts. What are your thoughts?

https://www.aerlex.com/protecting-your-privacy
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after 30-yrs working public safety communications i've learned that the vast majority of street criminals are lazy and opportunistic. a small minority are somewhat more sophisticated. when away from home it's always a good idea to give the appearance that the home is not vacant. but most thieves will not know how or go to the trouble of pulling tail numbers off of an ADSB receiver, avaiation app, flight aware, etc. and then burglarize the house. they're just not that smart or sophisticated.
 
I am more worried about the opportunist that walks, or drives by and see an opportunity to be a bad guy.
 
If you're that worried about it, just buy a home security system and then don't think about it. Plenty of ways to soothe paranoia beyond concern about your ADSB.
 
Palmpilot said:
Facebook allows me to limit who sees my postings (although I still don't post about trips in advance). Does Instagram have a similar feature?
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You can. But you can't stop whoever has access from sharing information. And if you're a social-media exhibitionist, even if you've blocked the general public, you probably haven't blocked all your ex-boyfriends, wannabe boyfriends, jealous girlfriends, etc. No one but my immediate family needs to know where I am at any given moment.
 
It’s simply “none of your business” where my plane is and when it’s there. An Internet search of my car license plate does not ping “live tracking” or “last drive” mapping so why should my tail number?
 
In 29 years of law enforcement, I never met a burglar who would’ve taken the effort to Flightaware stalk a potential victim and know when they’re not home. There are too many easy pickings out there for them to plan it out.

Almost all residential burglaries happen between 10:00 AM and 2:30 PM. That’s the best chance for no one to be home and for them to get in and out quickly without being noticed.

Harden your house. Landscape so there are no concealed windows or doors. Install good locks. Secure sliding doors with a piece of wood that blocks the track, won’t let the door slide more than half an inch, and is thick enough that they can’t tilt the door up over and slide it.

And dang it, call the cops if you see someone who might be up to no good in your neighborhood. You know who lives there, who “belongs” there, and when something is up. I would always rather have been called for something that turned out to be nothing than miss the chance to catch a burglar.
 
I don't see the big deal or the grounds for such paranoia. We are fortunate to be able to participate in the national air traffic system essentially for free, so tracking an N-number isn't that outrageous. The terms of use agreements we all signed to use whatever electronic device we are currently on are much more frightening.
 
Here is something pooh-poohed by some pilots as paranoia. Seems it's true.
Cade.png
Note the incident dates on both the above and this arrest record. Arrest for threats--apparently against pilots flying over his house. https://local.nixle.com/alert/8307248/
 
Cervieres said:
I don't see the big deal or the grounds for such paranoia. We are fortunate to be able to participate in the national air traffic system essentially for free, so tracking an N-number isn't that outrageous. The terms of use agreements we all signed to use whatever electronic device we are currently on are much more frightening.
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ATC having eyes and details on a plane is not the same as any idiot with internet access having that same level of visibility.
 
Marshall Alexander said:
My thoughts..........People are paranoid.
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This. I think we all think we’re far more important than we really are. Kinda like the social media phenomenon. Does anyone really care what I had for breakfast? No, no they don’t.

Of course, if you’re a billionaire and you don’t want your Global Express tracked as you traverse the globe, ok fine.
 
Domenick said:
Here is something pooh-poohed by some pilots as paranoia. Seems it's true.
View attachment 92949
Note the incident dates on both the above and this arrest record. Arrest for threats--apparently against pilots flying over his house. https://local.nixle.com/alert/8307248/
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Sure, can happen. Also can happen if he just stood next to the runway or on the ramp. The creepiest story I've heard personally was from a friend whose neighbor had set up flightaware alerts for his N number and would text whenever he went flying.
 
Geosync said:
This. I think we all think we’re far more important than we really are. Kinda like the social media phenomenon. Does anyone really care what I had for breakfast? No, no they don’t.

Of course, if you’re a billionaire and you don’t want your Global Express tracked as you traverse the globe, ok fine.
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So personal privacy and security should only be for the “really” important?
 
Geosync said:
This. I think we all think we’re far more important than we really are. Kinda like the social media phenomenon. Does anyone really care what I had for breakfast? No, no they don’t.

Of course, if you’re a billionaire and you don’t want your Global Express tracked as you traverse the globe, ok fine.
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I'm pretty sure that most of the pilots being threatened with violence by the nut-case in Ventura were not billionaires.
 
Geosync said:
This. I think we all think we’re far more important than we really are. Kinda like the social media phenomenon. Does anyone really care what I had for breakfast? No, no they don’t.

Of course, if you’re a billionaire and you don’t want your Global Express tracked as you traverse the globe, ok fine.
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Sort of goes along with the people building the, whatever they're called, Farad cages to put all their electronic stuff in............preppers. lol
 
Marshall Alexander said:
Sort of goes along with the people building the, whatever they're called, Farad cages to put all their electronic stuff in............preppers. lol
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Faraday cage, invented by Michael Faraday:

M_Faraday_Th_Phillips_oil_1842.jpg
 
As someone who has been stalked not once but twice and had someone impersonate me, here's a proposal for those that say "it's no big deal you're just paranoid": Go through it then get back to me on whether you want someone knowing where you are or might be. Until then, shut the **** up.
 
Lady Luscombe is owned by an LLC (the plane is a partnership) registered to a business address, which is not in my name, with a PO Box mailing address. To make it even harder it has small numbers and no transponder. None of that was done with the thought of avoiding stalkers but perhaps it will work for that as well.
 
Yesterday, Flight Aware reported my aircraft was "spotted" in Tennessee while hangered in Virginia. I've complained to Flight Aware in the past when this happened but gotten no answer. Is this happening because of something on their end? Pilot error?
 
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4RNB said:
The main reason I can think to sign up for this is to keep sophisticated thieves from knowing when I am away from the house.
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You know the Oceans 11 moives are fiction right? Right? Thieves are not sophisticated. That's kind of why they're thieves.
 
4RNB said:
I am learning that one can sign up to have public ADSB data blocked. Do you do this? Why or why not?
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I don't, but I fly an experimental and have a Uavionix that can switch to anonymous mode very easy.
 
DA40FAN said:
Yesterday, Flight Aware reported my aircraft was "spotted" in Tennessee while hangered in Virginia. I've complained to Flight Aware in the past when this happened but gotten no answer. Is this happening because of something on their end? Pilot error?
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I've seen this a few times. I believe it has something to do with ATC and if they get your tail number wrong. Someone was probably flying VFR and picked up flight fallowing. They probably had a similar tail number and ATC interred your aircrafts number. I've seen a nearby flight school 172 flying over my house, look at Flight Aware and it shows them as a Piper with a very similar number. Look up that Piper and its half way across the country.
 
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DA40FAN said:
Yesterday, Flight Aware reported my aircraft was "spotted" in Tennessee while hangered in Virginia. I've complained to Flight Aware in the past when this happened but gotten no answer. Is this happening because of something on their end? Pilot error?
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is your plane still in the hanger?
 
EdFred said:
As someone who has been stalked not once but twice and had someone impersonate me, here's a proposal for those that say "it's no big deal you're just paranoid": Go through it then get back to me on whether you want someone knowing where you are or might be. Until then, shut the **** up.
Click to expand...


I've had this happen to me, scary stuff. Honestly didn't know that there was a public place to track planes till now. Don't understand why that exists, it shouldn't in my opinion. Now a question, does it contain your personal information such as name, address, and that sort of thing?
 
YKA said:
I've had this happen to me, scary stuff. Honestly didn't know that there was a public place to track planes till now. Don't understand why that exists, it shouldn't in my opinion. Now a question, does it contain your personal information such as name, address, and that sort of thing?
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Yes, and the place to look it up is near the top of the FAA home page. I don't know whether the same is true of Canadian aircraft.

However the last time I checked a tail number on flightaware.com, there does appear to be a way to block tracking of your aircraft's location.
 
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