OFFICIAL

 

 

Dear Mr Fairless

 

Thank you for your email of 23 April 2025 requesting access to documents
held by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development,
Communications and the Arts (the Department) under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

 

You have requested access to:

 

Documents relating to the removal, suppression, or anonymisation of
aircraft data from third-party flight tracking services such as
FlightRadar24, PlaneFinder, ADS-B Exchange, or similar platforms.

Specifically, I’m after:
1. Policies, procedures, or internal guidelines concerning requests to
third-party services for the removal or suppression of aircraft tracking
data;
2. Correspondence between your agency and third-party flight tracking
platforms relating to the suppression, removal, or anonymisation of
aircraft data;
3. Internal discussions, briefings, or records outlining the rationale or
decisions around seeking to suppress aircraft data from public tracking
platforms;
4. Statistics, reports, or summaries indicating the volume and nature of
requests made to third-party platforms over the past five years;
5. Any agreements, memoranda of understanding, or formal arrangements
between your agency and third-party flight tracking platforms relating to
data suppression or visibility restrictions.

 

Your request has been allocated the reference number FOI 25-353. Could you
please ensure that you quote this reference number in all future
correspondence with the Department.

 

Timeframes

The statutory due date for you to receive a decision on your request is 23
May 2025. This date may be extended in certain circumstances, and in the
event that this occurs, the Department will notify you.  Where the due
date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the timeframe will
expire on the next working day.

 

Other information

Please note that the Department considers the following information
outside the scope of your request unless you specifically request it:

o personal information of third-party individuals; including public
servants below the SES level and all email addresses, signatures and
direct telephone numbers
o any duplicates and drafts of final versions of documents captured by
your request
o any correspondence sent directly to or from you.

 

The Department may impose a charge for the work involved in providing
access to the documents in accordance with the Freedom of Information
(Charges) Regulations. You will be notified separately if the Department
decides to impose a charge. There is no charge for documents that contain
your own personal information.

 

Where documents are released to you under the FOI Act in response to your
request, the Department must publish those documents on its FOI Disclosure
Log within 10 business days of their release to you, unless they contain
personal information or business affairs information that would be
unreasonable to publish. Further information regarding the Department’s
FOI Disclosure Log can be found [1]here.

 

Should you have any questions relating to your request, please do not
hesitate to contact the FOI Section via email to
[2][email address]

 

Kind regards

 

FOI Coordinator

Freedom of Information Section • People, Culture and Change Division

P 02 6274 6294

E [3][Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications request email]

GPO Box 594 Canberra, ACT 2601

 

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development,
Communications and the Arts
CONNECTING AUSTRALIANS  •  ENRICHING COMMUNITIES  •  EMPOWERING REGIONS

[4]infrastructure.gov.au                [5][IMG]

 

I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on
which we meet, work and live.

I recognise and respect their continuing connection to the land, waters
and communities.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present and to all Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders.

 

OFFICIAL

 

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