Aircraft owner privacy with FAA LADD and PIA
Updated 26 September 2026.
Two FAA programs can make an aircraft harder to follow in public. Neither one makes the airplane invisible. Air traffic control still sees the flight. The aircraft still broadcasts.
What people are trying to limit
ADS-B Out sends the aircraft's position and a unique ICAO address. The FAA explains that anyone with a receiver can pick up that broadcast, and that real-time tracking of a specific aircraft is possible. Owners ask for privacy because a tail number in a public feed can be tied to a name, and a name can be tied to a house.
The FAA offers two different tools. Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed, or LADD, filters aircraft data that the FAA distributes. The Privacy ICAO Address program, or PIA, lets an eligible operator use a temporary address that is not the one assigned to the owner in the Civil Aircraft Registry. They solve different problems. Using one does not do the job of the other.
The FAA states the difference directly. LADD does not change the ADS-B broadcast. It is built to block aircraft data in the FAA data feed. PIA is meant to limit how quickly and easily an aircraft can be identified by inexpensive commercial receivers. A receiver can still hear the broadcast.
What LADD changes
LADD carries out a privacy section of the 2024 FAA reauthorization law. On request from a private aircraft owner or operator, the FAA withholds the registration number and similar identifying data from broad dissemination or display. The law still requires the physical markings on the aircraft. LADD does not paint over the tail number on the airplane.
The FAA describes two filters, plus a way to undo them. FAA Source means the aircraft's flight data stays inside the FAA. External vendors do not receive that FAA flight data, so it is not available to internet sites through the FAA feed. Subscriber Level means the data is still sent to vendors who take the FAA feed, and the owner can ask a particular vendor to show the flight. The FAA notes that a vendor may charge for that selective view. Unblocking removes the filter. Flight data then goes out to vendors who receive FAA System Wide Information Management feeds, and those vendors may display it.
Vendors who take those FAA feeds agree to filter a LADD aircraft from public display. A site that does not use the FAA feed is outside that agreement, and a radio that hears ADS-B directly can still see the broadcast. The FAA applies new limits on the first Thursday of each month. A complete request in by the 15th of the prior month is likely to take effect the next month. Volume or missing details can delay it. An owner, or someone the owner authorizes, files online, by email, or by mail.
What PIA changes
PIA gives an eligible aircraft an alternate, temporary ICAO address. That address is not assigned to the owner in the Civil Aircraft Registry. Someone who looks up the broadcast address in the registry does not land on the owner's registration. The FAA says this limits how easily non-U.S. government entities can identify the aircraft, and that it has no adverse effect on air traffic control.
The aircraft still broadcasts ADS-B Out. The FAA says off-the-shelf receivers can still receive that data. What changes is the address in the broadcast, and the call sign used with air traffic control. The operator must use a third-party call sign from a commercial provider that has a security agreement with the FAA. The FAA can still obtain the identity of the aircraft and the operator for a security request from the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, or local law enforcement. The pilot does not get to change the privacy address or the call sign during the flight. Both have to match the filed flight plan.
Eligibility is narrow. The FAA lists U.S.-registered aircraft, equipped with 1090 MHz ADS-B, using a third-party call sign, and flying in U.S.-managed flight information regions. Aircraft that use 978 MHz UAT, and aircraft equipped to broadcast on both UAT and 1090, are not eligible. The program is optional. The FAA issues one privacy address at a time. In the current phase, the FAA says there is no cost to the person who requests it.
Where a privacy address may be used
PIA is for flights in U.S. sovereign and territorial airspace, including U.S.-managed offshore airspace. The FAA's examples allow a domestic flight, including Los Angeles to Hawaii, and reject a flight that enters Canadian airspace or continues to Europe. Outside that U.S.-managed airspace, the operator must use the ICAO address in the Civil Aircraft Registry. The permanent address may also be used on any other flight. After each change in the avionics, the FAA requires proof that the correct address is installed.
What the FAA asks for before the address is active
The operator first obtains a Public ADS-B Performance Report on the permanent ICAO address, from a flight in ADS-B airspace within the past 180 days. The request then includes that registry address, proof of a third-party call sign, contact details, and an acknowledgement of the program's articles of use. The FAA checks for an open enforcement action that would block participation.
If the request is approved, the FAA says the assignment arrives by email within 10 business days. The operator programs the transmitter and, within 30 days, obtains a performance report from a flight that uses the privacy address. That flight can be an ordinary trip. If the report is late, the FAA says the assignment is rescinded unless it grants more time because the aircraft has not flown. An operator may keep the address, or ask for a new one after 20 days. The FAA can revoke an address that is misused, including use outside U.S.-managed airspace or use on a different aircraft.
What Solidus will and will not say
We help an owner prepare a LADD request and, when the aircraft is eligible, a PIA application. The FAA decides. We will not tell you the airplane will disappear from tracking. A privacy address is temporary, limited to U.S.-managed airspace, and tied to a call sign the FAA can trace when required.
An exposure audit is where this starts for a household. The audit notes whether a tail number, a registry name, or a tracking page already connects the aircraft to a home address or a person. Nothing is filed until you say so. Read the Solidus Private home page for the rest of the membership, or request a private exposure audit. The first 10 households receive the full audit free. After that, the audit is normally $750.