Aircraft location data cannot be "delayed" for some very obvious public safety reasons. The FAA requires that every aircraft loudly announce itself at all times unless they're on the ground.
I can understand that this information must be real time for aircraft flight control purposes.
Not sure what the laws, requirements or practices say about the entire universe knowing where any aircraft might be in real time. I mean, if a bad guy wanted to aim a SAM at any given aircraft and this data is live and real-time...
Again, I don't know how this works in terms of the law. Opinions don't matter. What's the law?
US civilian aviation rules require that an on-craft transponder emit altitude and location information so that other craft can avoid collisions. Obviously, this makes aircraft more vulnerable to surface to air missiles. Thankfully, that's a vanishingly remote threat, so the FAA has decided that valuing collision avoidance over missile evasion is the correct set of priorities. I don't know how this would work in situations where surface to air missiles are a real threat, but I would guess military aircraft only follow civilian rules when it doesn't compromise their mission.
As far as "the entire universe knowing," I think the relevant legal principle at play is that there's no expectation of privacy associated with flying a private aircraft (for the reasons stated above). Airpsace is a shared, national security-sensitive resource, civilian regulators get to set the rules governing use.
Maybe the argument is or should be about who is on a plane rather than where the plane might be.
Expanding the concept beyond Elon, I personally don't like the idea of anyone being hounded by elements unknown just because of being famous. Do actors have the right to travel with their kids an not be mauled? I think they should have that right.
There seems to be this general idea these days that acting like a complete jerk and without one ounce of civility is now acceptable. Harass people at restaurants, threaten to hurt politicians and their families, stalk actors and celebrities, burn down entire business districts, etc. What the hell is wrong with people?
> Maybe the argument is or should be about who is on a plane rather than where the plane might be.
Well, that's not public information. Private jet owners can loan it out to friends (according to [0], Taylor Swift does this often), and you can't tell from flight plans who will be a passenger (or whether it will be carrying passengers at all).
Just like you dislike people being rude at restaurants, I object to billionaires trying to carve out new kinds of privacy to hide their excesses. Civilian use of the skies requires cooperation and is an act that occurs in public.
