Where did you get that idea? Last time I checked, you don’t know who I am, and you would need a court order to find out, as mentioned before. You seem to like to throw around your own rules as to where and when people are allowed to have privacy.
Please read my statement again. To simplify it for you (and this will be the last I will say), if you want privacy, stay off public websites and remain within your own intranet.
You obviously don’t work on the server side, nor obviously don’t work with internet / intranet security from a server perspective.
'nuff said since this is counterproductive to the quality of this website.
Allen
There is a difference between general lack of privacy on the internet and actively providing pilots with lists of who has been tracking their flight. Last time I checked, people don’t like all their actions tracked and reported to others. Especially when there competitors out there willing not to track them.
How you started talking about servers and such, I have no idea, as it has nothing to do with what we are talking about. Last time I checked, you were the only person defending this idea.
No, I see your point very clearly, but you are obviously missing mine.
I’m not claiming COMPLETE anonymity. I’m claiming that I have enough anonymity that someone ISN’T gonna go through the time, expense and trouble of TRYING to get something (which they will most likely be denied), just to get the name of someone who viewed public information.
Now, if I was a killer, and communicated with my victims through the Internet, then you’re right - I should be worried! If I ran a email phishing scheme with a link to my IP address, I know that I could be found, but do the authorities REALLY go to the trouble of tracking these things down??? I get three or four such emails a day. Multiply that by 50 million Internet users.
The end MUST justify the means when tracing an IP address. Getting the name of a user who queried a tail number does not justify the time, trouble and expense of trying to get a court order to get that information. And going through that process doesn’t mean that you’ll actually get the court order. I’m sure it would be denied.
So, FINALLY we do agree??? Of you are up to no good, then you should worry about someone knowing what tail numbers you track???
WITH THIS IN MIND, see way up top this thread. Again, to refresh your memory, I will ask again (I copied and pasted again)
(Begin copy)
What difference does it make for statistics gathering whether it be private individual or gubment??? Unless of course you are doing something illicit with your queries and don’t want to be discovered???
Bottom line, is if you have nothing to hide then there is nothing bad with data collection on tail number queries.
I highly doubt any harm to you could be realized from your history of queries. So again, I ask, what you got to hide?
(end copy)
If you query my tail number, why would you object to me knowing? Something to hide???
Is there is any reason why I shouldn’t know who queried my tail number if the queries were made in good faith? I can’t think of any?
Again, the query isn’t giving anything personal about you (other then maybe your online profile to this website, in which you volunteered).
Allen
When will you understand that this is awful logic?
Surely you are in agreement with Bush’s wiretapping. And surely you don’t care if the cops search your home or car without a search warrant. If the government monitored everything you did in life and kept it on record, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind either.
First off, HOW could I (an individual) be up to “no good” by tracking your tail number?
Second, if it’s the government checking up on you, they ain’t gonna do it through FlightAware - so you can be sure that it’s an individual querying your number.
So then you gotta go back to tracking down an IP address (which ain’t gonna happen), or being able to see somone’s FlightAware profile. This goes back to how much of my profile is true - ESPECIALLY if I’m up to “no good”.
Third, tracking your tail number is in and of itself not a crime. If I’m up to no good by tracking you, I must first commit a crime against you for you to know who I am. If I do commit a crime against you, then yes - hunt me down.
It’s probably something that you REALLY shouldn’t worry about anyway. Do you lie awake at night and worry about who’s looking up your telephone number in the phone directory? If one person queries your number, then you’re gonna be all like, “Why did this guy check out my tracks?” Maybe he accidently put your number in the flight tracker by mistake. And what if someone queries your number five times a day every day… Then you’re gonna be all like, “Why’s this guy tracking my number five times a day every day?” So what if you’ve got an IP address - not much you can do with that! If you’ve got a FlightAware user profile, then you’ve still got pretty much doodley-squat… You just know that an individual is watching your plane’s movement very closely, and there isn’t anything you can do about that until a real crime is committed.
Ummm helloooooooooo, somebody out there???
Remember, I am not the one worried about my privacy on the web. Please read my posts!
Can you answer my questions please as you seem to be very adept at not answering direct questions??? I will highlight in blue for your convienance.
And what is in red should be the answer to the question unless you got something more productive then evading the question.
Let me copy again for your convienance.
**What difference does it make for statistics gathering whether it be private individual or gubment??????** Unless of course you are doing something illicit with your queries and don't want to be discovered??????Bottom line, is if you have nothing to hide then there is nothing bad with data collection on tail number queries.
Allen
This will be my final post as long as that is the only line of reasoning you can come up with.
So it doesn’t matter to you whether you get one query in a year or five queries a day? You’re tellin’ me that if you get five queries a day every day, it’s not gonna be naggin’ at you who’s makin’ all of those queries???
That is a question that can only be answered by the person concerned. One concerned person may feel it’s an important distinction while another person may not care.
Again, this question is MOOT since the government will use the FAA’s systems and software to track you rather than going through FlightAware.
…and there is NOTHING illicit about a query. It’s a perfectly legal thing to do. There is nothing illicit in planning a crime either! You’re free to plan to rob banks and murder people all you want - you’re just not allowed to act on those plans. So if I’m planning to kill you at the airport when you land, and using FlightAware to track your movements, that’s okay! I just can’t take a STINGER surface-to-air missile system out to the airport to greet you.
If you wanna tally-up all of my queries with everyone else’s queries so you can simply have a number, knock yourself out. This is what I found disturbing:
Now think about it. Suppose you get an email from FlightAware every time your number gets a query. And let’s say you get one email every six months for two years. Interesting to know, but nothing to be concerned about. Then all of a sudden, you start getting five emails from FlightAware every day telling you that your number’s been queried. You’re not gonna care who it is that’s making those queries 
Actually nope it doesn’t matter how many people query my number. If it did, there is a solution to that problem if it “nagged me”. I’d just block my tail number. End of problem. Since this problem doesn’t nag me, I am more interested in the statistical value, even if it’s worthless to the person querying me. There are two sides to the table.
Nope, the question is not moot. Yes, you are right, FA derives it’s data from the FAA data, but we can’t query the FAA data directly? Plus, it’s the FA website that we query and asking for statistics on who queried my tail number is a reasonable suggestion to the FA folks.
Really? Now a lawyer I am not, but terms “premeditation” “motivation” comes to mind. FA could be an “accessory”. Yes accessory may be stretching, but you cannot deny the legalese society we live in. Simple queries don’t make a crime, you are correct, but the motivation behind the query is a whole different issue. More like cause and effect if I make sense.
and this is the part I am really trying to understand? Why do you find this disturbing? It’s a statistic, and also information on who queried my number? I don’t understand why people would have an objection on me knowing who queried my number if they have nothing to hide? I again re-iterate, other then user name or IP address, no personal information is given out.
Nobody said the information had to be diseminated via email when a query was made.
I would have suggested putting an option somewhere within the FA website, maybe under profiles a choice of what tail number, how many quearies the past 24 hours, the past week and then the past month. A summary page with numbers, and a detailed page showing who queried my number. If the information was anonymous due to a non member querying my number so be it, if it’s a member, putting their profile name wouldn’t tell me anything more. And to expand on your thoughts above, if it came by email, create an instant option, or a once a day option where the email would summarize the queries on my tail number. This second option would be the best option for purposes of bandwidth considerations. I wouldn’t need or care myself for email on every query, the digest versiou would fit the bill for me.
Allen
[quote=“lieberma”]
Maybe you need to re-read your question:
What difference does it make for statistics gathering whether it be private individual or gubment???
Only INDIVIDUALS will use FlightAware to query your number. The gubment will use gubment software to query your number. So if only individuals will use FlightAware, then how is that question NOT moot???
Planning = premeditiation. Premeditiation just makes it a more serious crime IF I actually commit the crime. To prove that I committed the crime, the prosecution has to show that I had the motivation and opportunity to commit the crime.
Premeditation and motive don’t come into play until I actually commit a crime.
Accessory?? FlightAware could be no more of an accessory to anything than the Ford Motor company would be an accessory to armed robbery if one of their cars were used.
Suppose I’m driving down the road by the airport and an airplane flies over my car. I’m just curious, “I wonder where that plane is coming from?” So I get home, do a little Googling on the Net and find FlightAware, plug-in the tail number and it just happens to be your plane. I see the plane went from KXYZ to KABC. And for that, you want to know my location, occupation, hobbies and have the ability to email and PM me? That ain’t right. The amount of information displayed about your tail number doesn’t justify your knowing that much information about me! PERIOD!
Not true. There may be agencies (state and local government) that don’t have access to FAA software, that may use FA to gather statistics on queries for their own airplanes. Just look to the directflight forum for availability of software writing.
You control what you put on the net, so you are on equal playing ground on protecting what you want known about you. Just the same as I got the right to block my tail number.
So, if you don’t want people to know about your location, occupation and so on as described above, why put it out there in the first place?
You don’t expect privacy in a public place, surely you cannot expect the same on a public website.
There is no difference, other then media (physically vs electronically).
Quite frankly, the answer to your concern is very obvious, if you don’t want your information described above to be known, don’t put the information out there.
Then any query ran on my tail number wouldn’t extract such data from your profie should it ever be created.
Allen
Hi, folks. This isn’t a feature that we’re interested in exploring or consider technically feasible or viable. Have a safe & happy new year.
Whew, thanks Dbaker!
If anything, got a lively discussion on interent security and privacy out of all that.
Happy New Year in return!!!
Allen
As much as I’d love to say “give it a rest, both of you,” it’s still a lively debate that is more interesting than most of the pedantic banter that is so common around here.
But seriously, give it a rest, both of you. 
(i couldn’t help it!)
Politespeak:
Translation: “The feature originally discussed will never see the light of day. Shut the hell up and move on.”
Daniel’s way was much more smug & smartass though.
Happy New Year, Everyone!
Good as done! 
Happy New Year!
Allen