How does it come as a surprise when things that were only recognized as having gone on underneath layer after layer of technical jargon are finally brought to general public awareness?
You don't get in trouble for doing things, you get in trouble for getting caught doing them. It's been a long time in coming, but awareness is finally starting to hit tipping points in meaningful ways.
No, literally by the radar... I'm confused what you mean. Surely it's not news to a pilot that ATC facilities save radar data. For how long is a different question.
Sorry. My apologies. I think I see the misunderstanding.
Under the radar is an idiom. It is used to describe things that occur in areas not typically subject to observation, or widespread acknowledgement/general awareness. In this case by regulators, or the public in general.
I think you might have misunderstood the poster above you when they suggested trying to fully automate airplanes; maintaining the analog of every sensor required to fully enable totally automated operation would require the installation of full suites of broadband sensors on the plane, allowing it to collect all information with regards to the environment it is working in, and sending it "back home". Admittedly, this is less problematic, because planes don't operate within the confines of everyday life, and thus are not omnipresent, capable of acting as a ubiquitous surveillance platform.
When I say this has been going on "Under the radar", I'm referring to the slow adoption of increasingly more varied and densely packed sensor packages in vehicles offered to provide some token discount, but with very little oversight into what type of data is generated, communicated, stored, or otherwise.
Planes being tracked by radar is fine. That comes with the mode of transport. It's an air transport's version of a Stop light or signage.
Long term persisted data collected by cars, however, is not, and should not be.
