Drew HarwellDec 16, 2022
One point I do want to make clear: Twitter is Elon Musk's website. He paid all that money and can ban whoever he wants. It's his right, just like it's our right to point out when he's spreading bad information and contradicting himself.
Ingo Kueper 🇺🇦Dec 16, 2022
Show threadDrew Harwell

Because Elon has continuously misrepresented this:

The data used for flight-tracking accounts like ElonJet - called ADS-B data - are transmitted from nearly every plane in the sky.

The signals are unencrypted, and anyone with a $20 RTL-SDR radio can pick them up. Aviation hobbyists gather the data and put them on websites like ADS-B Exchange.

It's publicly available, legally acquired data of the kind Elon Musk said he'd allow, until suddenly he no longer did.

Dec 16, 2022 at 7:13pmWeb
Show threadDrew HarwellDec 16, 2022

How The Washington Post has used flight data:

* To track a former president's emergency landing (in 2022): https://wapo.st/3HGp8IA

* To map out how military helicopters flew over George Floyd protests (in 2020): https://wapo.st/3V3WRie

* To raise questions about Elon Musk's flights (in 2019): https://wapo.st/2RmjE7X

* To investigate The Post's owner Jeff Bezos (in 2018): https://wapo.st/3YmLt3M

* To document extravagant trips on the taxpayer dime (in 2017): https://wapo.st/3HMh9d0

Plane carrying Donald Trump made emergency landing in New Orleans after engine failure over Gulf of Mexico

A plane carrying former president Donald Trump suffered engine failure late Saturday evening over the Gulf of Mexico, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in New Orleans shortly after taking off from the city.

The Washington Post
Show threadNick Selby Dec 16, 2022
@drewharwell @Cjust also: ADS-B is open source and public data. It’s like banning use of the letter L.
Show threadLynda ThompsonDec 17, 2022
@fuzztech @drewharwell @Cjust ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Show threadWilliam B. TurnerDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell. How DARE they! Tyranny! Sore injustice! Impeach!
Show threadEnrico Ariis Dec 16, 2022
@drewharwell
did Elon break up with Bari?
Show threadFluzDec 16, 2022
@EnricoAriis @drewharwell since when has lone uskm cared about his kids?
Show threadlazystreet779Dec 17, 2022
@EnricoAriis @drewharwell did anyone ask why he wasn’t with his kid and who was in fact with the kid?
Show threadRobin from Colorado 🇺🇸🇺🇦Dec 16, 2022
@drewharwell watching journalists going through the five stages of death is interesting. Are we in denial or bargaining?
Show threadcbn2Dec 16, 2022
@drewharwell Seriously, everyone I know who has their own plane (and I know a lot, because I'm rural Alaskan, and our family had 3) knows that all private plane flights are publicly tracked through aircraft tail numbers. I'm astonished that anyone who regularly flies that way would be 1) surprised or 2) bothered. Especially when he wants to track the locations of all Twitter users for ad purposes. #SlimyLittleHypocrite
Show threadLynda ThompsonDec 17, 2022
@cbn2 @drewharwell ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Show threadJacob HornerDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell I think you meant to say “assassination coordinates”
Show threadTy RossDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell Glad to see you here, Drew!
Show threadAmanda Finley Digs All ThingsDec 17, 2022

@drewharwell but the megalomaniac thinks we give a flip about where he is every minute of every day.

How soon can we render him irrelevant? Push him back into the shadows and not a threat to democracy?

Show threadlazystreet779Dec 17, 2022
@Rubyslippahs @drewharwell can we raise enough $$ to buy him out of twitter? Tho, just a few days ago I hypothesize that if we the interested people can play the right game we would own twitter and he would still have to pay the bills. Ideas!
Show threadAmanda Finley Digs All ThingsDec 17, 2022

@lazystreet779 @drewharwell oh, we don't need to raise a dime. Let the fool crash it, and we'll go clean it up when he takes the next space penis outta here to just the tip of space. Byeeeeeeeee.

I've cleaned up after a few tornados. We've got this.

Show threadTurd BlossomDec 17, 2022
@drewharwell How dare they use readily available data for quality news stories. The nerve!
Show threadJetStreamDec 17, 2022
@drewharwell These are not good examples. None of these has anything to do with our dear God #elonmusk. He only sees everything through his eyes.
Show threadRob LandleyDec 17, 2022

@drewharwell Airplanes broadcast their license plate via radio. The FAA has required them all to do this since the 1950s:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFF_Mark_X

Half the arguments about drones in civilian airspace is that they don't have sufficient transponders:

https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/equipadsb/resources/faq#q16

Twittler getting suddenly upset about this is like him getting suddenly upset about Apple's 30% cut of iPhone sales. He knew for years and agreed to it, then "forgot" when he donned the maga hat.

IFF Mark X - Wikipedia

Show threadJordan BarabDec 17, 2022
@drewharwell If Elon wants to avoid being tracked wherever he flies, he should just fly commercial. Problem solved! You're welcome.
Show threadCătă 🇷🇴🇺🇦🇲🇩🇪🇺Dec 18, 2022
@drewharwell don't forget about the monitoring of Russian airplanes done currently in the context of the war in Ukraine
Show threadJohn BaileyDec 16, 2022

@drewharwell

Bond villains always have special privileges...

Show threadSaint EddieDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell elon is out of his crack smoking mind.
Show threadSuper Mecha DadDec 16, 2022

@drewharwell

I'm not really a fan, but he does raise a very good point.

Show threadAleDec 16, 2022
@SuperMechaDad @drewharwell wow I did not think of that and it makes a lot of sense... but since these are all public data I guess the IRS (or Cali equivalent) could still use them to build a case?
Show threadBrian VastagDec 16, 2022
@SuperMechaDad @drewharwell banning publicly available data for tax avoidance purposes is a "good point"?
Show threadSkyeDec 16, 2022
bet his own pilot appreciates knowing where all the othet planes are
Show threadDerek BruffDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell Honest question: The data may be public, but knowing which plan belongs to a specific person, that's not public is it?
Show threadshaunDec 17, 2022

@derekbruff @drewharwell Aircraft ownership is public data in the US; you can go to the FAA website, plug in a tail number, and get the info.

Often, aircraft will be registered to LLCs (for both privacy and insurance/liability reasons). But this is only worth the effort one puts into it. Registering a jet to “Falcon Landing LLC” at SpaceX’s Hawthorne address sort of gives it away…

https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=628TS

Aircraft Inquiry

Show threadbVorkDec 17, 2022

@derekbruff @drewharwell

You can work backwards through public data.
Here's the FAA registry of N628TS: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=628TS

You'll notice that the owner is FALCON LANDING, LLC in Hawthorne, CA.

We then go to the Business Search provided by the government of California and punch that into the search tool:
https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business

You'll get 4 entries, one of which is still active. Click on View History and you'll be taken to a list of filings and statements. Click on the Statement of Information from May 25, 2021, and download the PDF.

Open the PDF and you'll discover that the manager of this company is Elon Musk

And there you have it: Elon Musk is the manager of the company that owns this jet, derived entirely from government sources.

Aircraft Inquiry

Show threadDerek BruffDec 17, 2022

@bVork @drewharwell Huh. It's all public data, but that amount of sleuthing makes it feel a little like doxxing. You can track down my home address through public data (since I bought my home), but that wouldn't make it cool to post online.

I mean, Musk is definitely a bad actor in all this and knowing a plane's location isn't the same as knowing a person's location, but I can see why some people might find this worrisome.

Show threadbVorkDec 17, 2022

@derekbruff @drewharwell I'm not sure they are comparable. I did this exercise solely through corporate records. I'm not sure I could work backwards through publicly available property records to acquire your address, even given that you are using your real name and I can make an educated guess on what city you live in - and definitely not easily-accessible online sources like the ones I used.

Aren't most property title searches based on address, not name? I guess if you have a landline, I could probably find you in what remains of the phone book, but that requires actually acquiring a physical phone book from your presumed area.

I think if I were to try doxxing you via legal, public methods (and I want to reiterate I would NEVER do this, I'm just laying out the most logical approach), I'd do it with a public records request of registered voters in Mississippi.

But you do raise several questions (that I don't really have the answers to):

What level of information counts as doxxing when it gets posted online without your consent? I mean, you'll notice I'm not using my real name here. Is it doxxing if somebody posts that, even though most people in this thread are using theirs?

And do public persona (celebrities, politicians, or high-profile businesspeople) deserve lower expectations of privacy?

And what information is worth disclosing in the public interest, like (just FOR EXAMPLE) a private jet making a bazillion polluting trips every year?

I'm not sure it's possible to develop a solid line between doxxing and posting public information. I think the closest I can get is "is this likely to cause extra-legal harm to the subject over a matter that is not of the public interest?"

Show threadWilliam B. TurnerDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell. I just posted this on Twitter. I wonder if Elmo will ban me.
Show threadSam AbuelsamidDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell publicly available ads-b data is an important aviation safety feature that allows air traffic controllers as well as other aircraft to track the real-time position of other aircraft
Show threadDave Troy Dec 16, 2022
@drewharwell yup, absolutely. I've done this with a USB SDR on my Mac and it's very, very easy to do.
Show threadRabid Rabbit 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺🇺🇦Dec 16, 2022

@drewharwell

I'm actually a ham, M0WVX. Haven't tried this, have an SDR already hooked up to a beefy ground loop for 40m/80m DX, will give it a go!

Show threadEdwin GroothuisDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell @the_rabid_rabbit you don’t need a large HF antenna, you need a 12 cm high vertical with a ground plane, or if you want to show size, an 10 element coaxial colinear (I might have the name wrong) of one meter.
Show threadRabid Rabbit 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺🇺🇦Dec 16, 2022

@mavetju @drewharwell

Oh it's up there at 1GHz. Dunno why I thought it would be down at HF. Okay cool.

Show threadTJ WashingtonDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell there's been flight trackers on Twitter for years.
Show threadGeoDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell Very important points!
Show threadKathy E. Gill 🇺🇦Dec 16, 2022
@drewharwell And there are lots of apps that use the data. When there is a particularly low or late flight over our neighborhood (new flight path, Boeing Everett field became commercial), I check.
Show threadMikeKDec 16, 2022

@drewharwell

That's not true. I paid 30 dollars for my rtl-sdr.

Show threadMichelle CorryDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell they are saying now that he had a PIA number, does this still apply, even with a PIA number?
Show threadLate Stage CapitalismDec 16, 2022

@drewharwell I propose we boycott Twitter Dec 19-20 with hashtag #TwitterBoycottDec19

The only way real change happens is if there is a group shift so content is posted elsewhere. That needs to happen together but people will not do it unless they know it is a short period

Show threadGreg GentryDec 16, 2022

@drewharwell Musk claims that his use of the FAA’s PIA program, which assigns a new, anonymous, ID to his plane, means that the data is no longer public.

But, there are a limited number of planes like his, and only, about one, that flies out of his airport, so it’s trivial to figure out his new, allegedly, anonymous ID.

Show threadTechnoTaff SteveDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell ADS-B is not encrypted.
Show threadDavid RolfeDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell Those are the assassination coordinates he's talking about?
Show thread[email protected]Dec 16, 2022
@drewharwell
The explanation contains many technical words, he’s obviously not a tech person.
Show threadTae KimDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell he has an unwavering commitment to free speech until he decides to change his mind five weeks later
Show threadnadin brzezinskiDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell @adamgurri so it will be a banable offense for me to upload a real time picture from the 94 during a wildfire. He has made OSINT near imposible, as well as garden variety journalism.
Show threadYard LimitDec 16, 2022

@drewharwell

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live - aircraft flight history

Show threadTevruden DawnspearDec 16, 2022

@drewharwell I once used the ADS-B data to sit and track the location of the plane i was *on*

It's not secret when every plane is screaming it to anyone who can hear.

Show threadWANDERING🏴‍☠️LENSDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell Furthermore, ADS-B doesn't broadcast who is on the plane, where they're sitting on the plane, what cargo the plane is carrying, or any other telemetry like fuel load, fluid levels, engine temperature, battery voltage or anything aside from "this plane, which is owned by X, is at Y altitude at a speed of Z knots, and is located at these approximate GPS coordinates." It's even more essential for information about private planes to remain public because of its inestimable value to air safety investigators.
Show threadsortiusDec 16, 2022

@drewharwell Yep, I've got an SDR permanently set up here, just so I can do local flight tracking because I live between two airports.

For us geeky types, it's fun to be able to pull this data over the air without anything but a radio and a computer

Show threadChristian GrausDec 16, 2022
@drewharwell I feel like we all knew this?
Show threadMatir Dec 17, 2022
@drewharwell This is inspiring me to set up an ADS-B receiver and contribute to ads-b exchange, though I suspect where I live probably already has very good coverage.
Show threadRob LandleyDec 17, 2022
@drewharwell it's the radio version of a car's license plate/headlights/taillights/turn signals combined.
Show thread@[email protected]Dec 17, 2022

@drewharwell

And it isn’t even Melon Head’s. It belongs to a shell company Falcon Landing LLC located at SpaceX HQ. And SpaceX …not Melon Head - is listed as the agent and manager along with 2 other planes in the fleet.

And he can’t be on all 3 at once…and that rather points to several people using them

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/its-not-musks-plane-it-belongs-to-spacex

It’s Not Musk’s Plane. It Belongs to SpaceX

A minor point. But TPM Reader BR points out that that the private jet at the center of the latest Twitter fracas is not precisely Elon Musk's. It appears to be a corporate jet owned by SpaceX…

TPM – Talking Points Memo
Show threadJackie WolfDec 17, 2022
@drewharwell He's in the paranoid phase now.
Show threadTyler Lucas Dec 17, 2022

@drewharwell I'm against Elon's behavior and suspending people who post #ElonJet. But just to play devil's advocate with this logic: it would not be considered OK to post someone's home address, even if obtained via public county data.

I think that there are better arguments -- in addition to it being publicly obtained -- which are: (1) jets are not people, and; (2) #Elon is a massively influential public figure, so knowing where his jet has real implications