For whatever it may be worth, unrestricted on-line access to aircraft registation information, including owners' names and addresses, is also the norm in
Canada and
the USA.
I have valid security reasons for being opposed to unresitricted access of G-INFO.... I'm not prepared to explain why it has security implications. Unless you are, or have been in my situation you won't be able to understand the security threat that this poses.
Hardly a compelling argument (tantamount to "just trust me on this").
G-INFO is only one of a myriad of places where a determined person could find your address from.
Yes; very true.
I don't know how this fits in with the Data Protection Act, but it does seem a little strange that the public can go online and get the address of the owner of an aircraft, when a similar tool does not exist for someone interested in knowing the owner of a car.
I think this is a valid comment. My law office has on-line access to vehicle registration / driver license information, but our usage is subject to a written code of conduct (which we all had to sign), and spot audits.
I find it incredibly useful for finding out who's been hot dogging overhead your house (in an AIAA) below 200'.
I'm not sure that this is much of a justification for public access. If you believe that someone is violating the regulations in a non-trivial manner, I'd suggest that the appropriate thing to do is lodge a complaint with the CAA, not call up the aircraft's owner directly.
A more benign use of the public database is to help you find people who own aircraft of a type that you're interested in purchasing. If you approach such people in a respectful manner, quite often they are very happy to discuss their ownership experience, show you their airplane, and take you for a familiarization flight.