When Elon Musk decided to act against the accounts that tracked the movements of your private jetopened a debate that is still ongoing: to what extent is it reasonable for anyone to follow the movements of a person using public data.
While all the millionaires were looking into the air, a similar movement was brewing at sea: thousands of fans follow the routes of the most exclusive superyachts on the planet thanks to the technology that guarantees maritime safety. What was born to avoid collisions and facilitate rescues has also become a tool capable of showing the (supposed) whereabouts of some of the greater fortunes of the world.
Locate a superyacht from your mobile. The technology behind this phenomenon is called AIS (for the acronym of Automatic Identification System or Automatic Identification System). According to the IMO (International Maritime Organization), all ships of a certain size must be equipped with this system that constantly transmits data such as the identity of the ship, its position, speed, course and its navigation status.
This transponder was conceived to improve maritime traffic safety and facilitate search and rescue operations. However, the expansion of the Internet and terrestrial and satellite reception networks completely changed the scope of that technology. Platforms like MarineTraffic It collects these AIS signals and shows the position of the vessels in almost real time. In a matter of seconds it is possible to know where a certain yacht is, what route it follows or what its recent movement history has been.
Of the planespotting to the yachtspotting. As happens with fans of photograph airplanes In the vicinity of airports, the hobby of photographing ships has existed for decades. The so-called ship spotters They usually go to ports, straits or maritime traffic areas to photograph especially striking boats. However, the Internet has transformed that activity. It is no longer necessary to wait for a ship appears on the horizon, just consult an application to know where it is moored or anchored.
One of the best examples is SuperYachtFana platform that has evolved into a database specialized in superyacht owners, corporate structures and vessel locations. According to the platform itself, it currently gathers information on more than 1,600 yacht owners. That is to say, in practice, the interest no longer lies solely in the boat, but part of its attractiveness also falls on its occupants.
A privacy problem. As some suggested with the real-time monitoring of the private jets of millionairesthe exposure of this positioning data could lead to a problem for the privacy and security of the millionaire owners of these superyachts. In fact, in December 2004, the IMO addressed the issue by stating that “the publication on the global web or elsewhere of AIS data transmitted by ships could be detrimental to the safety and security of ships.”
Two decades later, AIS data remains accessible from numerous tracking platforms and allow you to locate private vessels practically anywhere on the planet. The same technology that makes it possible to avoid collisions between ships also makes it easier to know where the owner of a superyacht worth hundreds of millions of dollars spends his vacations.
Some millionaires disappear from the map. The logical consequence of this public exposure is that some owners try to reduce their visibility. The easiest way: turn off the transponder. The case of launchpad Mark Zuckerberg generated controversy precisely for this reason: he turned off his beacon to try to hide his true whereabouts.
However, international regulations are quite clear in this regard and establish that ships equipped with AIS must keep the system activated at all times, except in exceptional situations contemplated by international agreements or standards related to the protection of navigation information.
This does not mean that there is an automatic international sanction for failing to comply with this recommendation, but the application of the regulations depends on the national maritime authorities and the corresponding flag State. According to the history of sanctions, the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda already has imposed sanctions For this reason, for amounts greater than 20,000 euros.
Image | Unsplash (Rockwell branding agency)
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