It seems Elon Musk isn’t the only billionaire who doesn’t like having his private jet tracked. Pop star Taylor Swift has threatened to sue a Florida student who started multiple social media accounts that broadcast real-time information about the location of her private jet.
It brings to mind the whole ElonJet scandal of late 2022. He was following Musk’s plane. In fact, the student facing legal action by the Swift team is the person managing that account. Jack Sweeney, 21, runs various social media pages that chronicle the take-offs and landings of planes belonging to billionaires, politicians and, of course, pop stars.
In December, Swift’s lawyers wrote Sweeney a cease-and-desist letter, saying they would “have no choice but to pursue any and all legal remedies” unless the pop star stopped publishing details of her plane’s location. “Stalking and Harassment Behavior.”
The letter went on to say that Sweeney’s actions caused Swift and her family “direct and irreparable harm, as well as emotional and physical distress,” and increased her “constant state of fear for her personal safety.” It should be noted that Swift faced numerous stalkers and attackers throughout her career. Last month it was a man several times.
“Whether this is a game for you or an avenue you hope will bring you wealth or fame, it is a matter of life and death for our client,” the legal team wrote. The letter added that “there is no legitimate interest or public need for this information other than to stalk, harass, dominate and control.”
Swift’s spokeswoman, Tree Peine, took a direct line from Sweeney’s social media accounts to Swift’s attackers, saying that the pop star’s team “cannot comment on any ongoing police investigation, but the stalkers have confirmed that there was a relationship at the time.”
Sweeney said The Washington Post He noted that this was simply an attempt to scare him into sharing public information, noting that his jet-tracking accounts all received location data from the Federal Aviation Administration and volunteer hobbyists. Planes regularly broadcast their location via transponders so air traffic controllers can see what’s going on. Anyone on the ground can pick up these signals using a device called an ADS-B receiver, which is widely available online. “That information is already out there,” Sweeney said. “His team thinks they can rule the world.”
Swift’s team wrote that Sweeney was notorious for “disregarding the personal safety of others in exchange for demands for public attention and/or financial gain,” citing one incident. To delete an ElonJet account.
Facebook and Instagram banned Sweeney’s accounts that followed Swift’s air travel late last year, but they are still alive on Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram and other social media sites. His live tracking accounts were banned on X, but he was allowed to post location data with a 24-hour delay. In addition to being the biggest pop star in the world, Sweeney also follows the likes of Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian and Mark Zuckerberg.
It looks like Sweeney plans to stop stalking the pop star’s plane at some point. He turned to a lawyer to defend himself from the trial.
