In an email, Sweeney told The Verge that learning “who owns what planes already requires research,” and that he and other jet trackers often “use the media and associated sources” rather than the FAA’s database of registrations.
The FAA said on Friday that it’s considering defaulting to withholding personally identifiable information from registration records. Even if jet trackers relied more on the FAA’s database, Sweeney suspected that the rule doesn’t apply to those who…