Evading the Public Eye: On Astroturfing in Open Aviation Data †

Strohmeier, Martin; Olive, Xavier; Sun, Junzi

doi:10.3390/engproc2022028007

Evading the Public Eye

Title

Evading the Public Eye: On Astroturfing in Open Aviation Data †

Author

Strohmeier, Martin (OpenSky Network, Burgdorf; Cyber-Defence Campus, Zurich)
Olive, Xavier (OpenSky Network, Burgdorf; Université de Toulouse)
Sun, Junzi (TU Delft Control & Simulation)

Date

2022

Abstract

The usage of large private and business jets, from those owned by Elon Musk to Kylie Jenner and Bernard Arnault, has recently attracted considerable attention in many countries. Enabled by open and crowdsourced aircraft tracking systems based on the automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast protocol, the aircraft and their owners have been scrutinized. While the underlying technology is not novel and its privacy issues have been discussed for years, the increased attention has led to the backlash against open tracking data and, consequently, a scramble to find possible solutions to hide private jets from the public eye. In this paper, we analyze two such methods, which have not yet been discussed previously in the literature: blocking requests to web tracking platforms and malicious editing of crowdsourced databases. We draw on data from the OpenSky Network and illustrate the futility of such approaches. Finally, we outline the type of stakeholders and aircraft deploying such methods, as well as demonstrate the level of environmental impact that might have otherwise been missed by the public.

Subject

ADS-B
astroturfing
business jets
flight environmental cost
OpenSky Network
privacy
tracking aircraft emissions

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2c45fb56-f2ef-416c-ba59-5fa2217077e7

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2022028007

ISSN

2673-4591

Source

Engineering Proceedings, 28 (1)

Part of collection

Institutional Repository