ICE revealed to be using Taylor Swift's FAA privacy loophole to obscure deportation flights

US agency ICE is reportedly using an FAA privacy programme, also used by celebrities, to obscure deportation flights.

A US government programme that allows private jet owners to keep their flights off public tracking websites is now reportedly being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conceal deportation flights.

The initiative, run by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the national aviation regulator in the United States, is called the Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed list (LADD).

LADD was originally created after lobbying from the private jet industry, which argued that publishing flight information for celebrities and business leaders raised security concerns. Among those whose jets are registered under the programme are Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg.

Now, ICE has begun using the same privacy mechanism to hide aircraft contracted for deportation flights.

According to flight-tracking researcher Jack Sweeney, two Avelo Airlines planes and seven GlobalX aircraft used by ICE are currently listed. Commercial planes have occasionally been added to the LADD list in the past, but experts note that its use for government deportation operations is unusual. “

We’re seeing these commercial aircraft being added to the LADD list and then subsequently being employed under contract by the government for these deportation flights,” said Ian Petchenik, communications director at flight-tracking service Flightradar24. “It’s certainly new.”

While LADD blocks aircraft from appearing on FAA-linked websites such as FlightAware and Flightradar24, the flights can still be traced through open-source data known as ADS-B, collected by volunteers worldwide.

This method has also been used to track Swift’s and Elon Musk’s private jets, both of which are registered on the list.

Critics of ICE deportation flights argue that using the FAA programme reduces transparency, adding to concerns already raised over shackling of passengers and reports of poor medical care during removals.