Being an aviation geek in China just became a lot less fun, as the Chinese government has reportedly banned real-time airplane tracking app Flightradar24. This is part of China’s concerns over foreign agencies accessing data in China. The Beijing Municipal National Security Bureau has allegedly decided that data-sharing services like Flightradar24 pose a security threat…
Continue reading: Sad For AvGeeks: China Bans Flightradar24
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
While you are correct that most U.S. military flights don't show up on Flightradar 24, I have run into some exceptions. One day, I noticed a peculiar airplane icon near D.C. Clicking on the icon, it came up "AF2." That would be a plane with the vice president aboard and it was on track to land at Joint Base Andrews.
I’ve spotted Air Force One several times on FR24, as well as a few Globemaster III from both the USAF & RAF during the fall of Kabul. If the U.S. are perfectly fine with these things, I don’t understand why the Chinese government wouldn’t be; especially as they use a different satellite tracking configuration.
How likely would it be to see spy planes on FR24 anyway? And I’m pretty sure if you’re on the lookout for military aircraft for military reasons, FR24 wouldn’t be the software you’d rely on.
I haven’t noticed any small aircraft from the us military, but I have noticed refueling and transport planes. USAF transports frequently go by the callsign “Reach”.
If it’s a routine shuttling or transport mission, why not have your ADS-B on and transmitting for safety.
Now if it’s some secret squirrel stuff, or performance type training, I can see leaving the ADS-B off.
Flightradar24 voluntarily filters out certain military, government and other aircraft.
www.adsbexchange.com shows every aircraft that emits an ADS-B signal. Very high profile or sensitive military flights will not emit an ADS signal, hence can't be tracked by any website relying on this data source. (see the FAQ on adsbexchange.com)
I am sure FR24 administrators will be able to see “blocked” aircraft tracks as it’s FR24 support team that is contacted by military, government and private owners who would rather not be tracked, so it makes some sense that a country like China would not want to allow use in country.
As other commentators have noted, sometimes even US military aircrafts show up on FR24, and the story from the Chinese government is that some Chinese military aircrafts have shown up on equipment provided by some of these companies (they did not specifically name FR24). Given the increasingly xenophobic environment within China, it's no surprise that they'd clamp down on companies like FR24 for perceived risk (whether they be real or imaginary).
Leave it to China and their approach in throwing out the baby with the bath water.
It's not a good sign as they continue to tighten down on anything and everything they deem as suspect to their political considerations.
Why do people keep thinking Air Force One cannot show up on FR24? Even U-2 are tracked by FR24.
Unless you see a B-2 on FR24 or F-22 over a non NATO airspace, you've seen nothing out of business as usual.
Maybe someone figured out China's black site and tracking political prisoners transport.
You think only the CIA runs these operations.
Could be Huawei's CFO flight tracking that raises too much awareness in China or shown some exploit.
The chinese government has been tightening their grip more and more. There is a very real possibility in the next several years they will launch an attack. Probably on taiwain but could be on the Philippines. Historically speaking their philosophy is to attack when they feel surrounded. Doesn't really matter if they think they can win or not.
I have to admit that even the action to rule out FR24 in China seems to be somewhat like tightening control under dictatorship, the FR24 indeed has some risks like what you said. I agree with you because probably that is what I as Chinese see: a huge risk if such data are exposed to military use.
We are in a neo-cold war between US and China, that is unambiguous truth.
Then again… the United States threatens to ban TikTok unless its servers are relocated out of China, and Huawei is persona non grata here.
If their journalistic narrative and public opinion are anywhere similar to the western world, I imagine they’re very easily triggered at anything that could be remotely used against them maliciously, just like the other way around.
Anyone surprised? No one raises hands, as expected. Taiwan shouldn't see these planes coming! Because in such cases Flightradar's the only way to get such data, of course.
As China's been acting in recent years, I guess that's not the only thing they want to hold under the cover. It's worrying.
This may come as a surprise to you, but China's not like the USA or Europe where companies get a certain amount of freedom and where privacy is a thing. Chinese companies have a legal obligation to spy on anyone outside of China or to at least collect as much data as possible for the further honor and glory of the Chinese Communist Party.
Huawei couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't collect and transfer all sorts of data of its infrastructure networks to China. TikTok is designed to collect data and spy on people. That's why TikTok came with this 'dance' where users are fully visible, especially their face. Attempts by experts to reverse engineer the app have all stranded in the extreme defensive and obscure programming that's being used. And why does that app need access to literally everything on your phone to work?
It's also known that China sends in lots of government paid trolls on weblogs and media to influence and create conflicts and uncertainy. I guess you're one of them.
Oh no. Does that mean that the airspace above China will be completely empty on FlightRadar24? Like, would it show no planes overflying it, including airlines that happen to be passing through that aren’t going to/from China?
We just had what I think was the Blue Angels overhead in Vegas (insanely loud, whatever it was), and they weren't on FR24, but yesterday I was at the airport to check out the Virgin Atlantic 787 land and a Janet Airways plane landed, and that was on FR24. FWIW.
This could very well be a clampdown on data mining. Economic data as published by the Chinese government are generally considered to be unreliable. So, economic analysts tend to resort to other date that are difficult to alter, for instance the amount of light seen by satellites at night over China. I suppose that FR24 is a valuable source for analysts making trying to make sense of the Chinese economy.
ADSBexchange shows more and doesn't engage in blocking the FR24 does. Most military is not visible on FR24.
Sean - hate to burst your bubble, but he's not wrong. AF1 and AF2 appear regularly on all the major tracking sites.
On what grounds are you calling Keith a liar? Just because you haven't seen something doesn't mean it isn't there....
We had some A330s run by the French Airforce doing manoeuvres off the coast of Lanzarote recently. They were great fun to watch and did show up on FR24! Strictly military aircraft don't though.
Exactly. There are ways to have their military aircraft be not visible if they wanted them to.
Meanwhile, Flightware isn't mentioned. Is it because they have a "partnership" with China's Variflight?
https://www.variflight.com/en/newsDetails/1_8.html
I appreciate being able to check out helicopters in LA, I'm in Michigan, I think it's so cool
But what isn't cool is when someone tries to explain something and another doesn't agree, so they pounce on them, vigorously because they are protected behind walls other than when face to face ppl have more respect for each other. My new neighbor antagonizes me by beeping his horn from behind walls, it got really bad , he does it because he is profiling my dogs as dangerous because they go woof woof , you know they bark. So I went straight to his cowardly face and said what's up I'm here, let's get it done coward. This worked for a few , then more antagonizing. So I drove my truck very aggressively up my dusty driveway, right to his front door and when I stopped a dust cloud had taken the seen, I was still on my property. I live back a ways but they live close to the road, I walked back to my house and hit the button on my key. Beep beep beep beep beep for days and days I did it, he works 2nd shift or 3rd but he started a cowardly game and kept trying it, now they are afraid to go outside of there house. Those are the people I fix right straight in public, I don't look for trouble, there's just to many mental ppl out there. But if you leave shitt in there pants , then they learn.