PROFESSOR GIPSON AUTHORS PUBLIC COMMENT IN SUPPORT OF FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
June 2025 — Associate Professor of Law Ronnie R. Gipson Jr. authored a public comment in support of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Request for Comments to Withhold Certain Aircraft Registration Information from Public Dissemination as part of its rulemaking process. Information was compiled for the comment based on Professor Gipson’s time as an aviation lawyer, a pilot, and decades of engagement with stakeholders with members in the aviation industry to include aircraft owners, experimental aircraft builders, aircraft mechanics, airmen, representative aviation organizations, aviation attorneys, aviation insurers, airport administrators, and aviation businesses.
The public comment also builds on Professor Gipson’s scholarship promoting the protection of privacy interests: “The Rise of Drones and the Erosion of Privacy and Trespass Laws,” published by The Air & Space Lawyer. The comment highlights that stakeholders within the aviation industry can obtain access to Personally Identifiable Information (PII) through means other than the unnecessary broad dissemination or public display of that information by the FAA. The comment advocates for the FAA to restrict the transmission of aircraft registration and airmen PII data to the public through the automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) system utilized primarily for air traffic control in the national airspace system. The comment highlights that vexatious litigants are misusing publicly displayed PII to advance questionable public and private nuisance claims. The comment was submitted to the Department of Transportation on June 2, 2025, and can be found here.
Ronnie R. Gipson Jr. is a Visiting Associate Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law. He earned his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, and he holds a B.A. from Texas A & M University in Modern Languages (French). Professor Gipson’s scholarship sits at the intersection of aviation law and international economic policy and trade law. Professor Gipson’s current projects explore topical issues making headline news globally.