Terms of Service

planedata.io is a community project. These terms keep it that way: the website, API and data are for non-commercial use, by and for people who care about aviation and flight tracking.

Last updated: 2 November 2026

1. Agreement

By using the planedata.io website, API or data, or by feeding data to it, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the service.

2. Non-commercial use only

You may use the website, API and data only for non-commercial purposes, unless we’ve given you written approval. Welcome uses include:

• Personal and hobbyist use: following flights, plane spotting, running your own receiver.
• Education and teaching, and academic or non-profit research.
• Community projects: flight-tracking and aviation enthusiast sites, clubs, open-source and non-commercial tools.
• Non-commercial journalism and public-interest reporting, with credit.

Commercial use means using the service or its data in, or to support, anything sold or provided for payment, advertising revenue or a business’s operations, including internal business use. It needs our written approval first. Ask us: we’re happy to talk, especially where the project gives something back to the community.

3. Using the API and data

• Stay within the fair-use limits described in the API documentation, and don’t try to get around them (for example by spreading requests over many addresses).
• Give credit: “Data: planedata.io”, plus the credits of the original sources where they apply. OpenSky Network data requires credit to “The OpenSky Network” and non-commercial use; adsb.lol data is under the Open Database License, which requires credit and share-alike.
• Don’t resell or redistribute the data as a dataset or competing feed, or present it as your own.
• Caching is fine, as long as what you show stays reasonably current and credited.

4. Acceptable use

Don’t use planedata.io:

• to stalk, harass, threaten or harm any person, or to monitor individuals in ways that break the law;
• for any unlawful purpose, or in breach of others’ rights;
• to disrupt, overload or attack the service, or to access parts of it you aren’t meant to;
• to feed false, spoofed or manipulated data.

5. Not for navigation or safety

The data comes from volunteer receivers and other networks. It can be delayed, incomplete or wrong, and positions and times may be estimated. It is for information only and must not be used for navigation, air traffic control, collision avoidance, search and rescue or any other safety-critical or operational purpose.

6. Feeding data

• You’re responsible for your own equipment and for following the radio and other laws where you are.
• By feeding, you let us use, combine, display and share the data you send, as described in the Privacy Policy. You can stop feeding at any time.
• We may disconnect a feeder that sends bad data or harms the service.

7. Third-party data

Some data comes from other networks and open datasets, each with its own terms (see the API documentation). Where those terms are stricter than ours, they apply to that data.

8. The service is provided as is

We run planedata.io in good faith but without guarantees: it may be unavailable, change or stop at any time, and we don’t promise that the data is accurate, complete or fit for any purpose. To the extent the law allows, we aren’t liable for any loss or damage arising from your use of the service or its data.

9. Suspension

We may limit or block access for anyone who breaks these terms or puts the service or community at risk.

10. Changes

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows the latest version; using the service after a change means you accept it.

11. Contact

For commercial use, partnerships or questions: the contact address on this site (coming soon).