Jack Sweeney was briefly suspended from X in December 2022 after his jet tracking account annoyed Elon Musk, according to The Washington Post. Musk called the tracking of aircraft a form of "doxxing" and compared sharing this flight information, which is publicly available FAA data, to revealing his "assassination coordinates."
Taylor Swift
's lawyers have threatened legal action against
Jack Sweeney
, a Florida college student who has been tracking the private jets of celebrities and public figures, including Swift, and has been previously in the headlines for keeping tabs on
Elon Musk
’s jet.
Sweeney shared the cease-and-desist letter with The Washington Post, which he received from Swift’s attorney, Katie Wright Morrone. The letter accused him of causing “direct and irreparable harm, as well as emotional and physical distress” to the singer-songwriter through his social media accounts. It threatened legal action if Sweeney did not stop what it called "stalking and harassing behaviour."
The same Jack Sweeney was briefly suspended from X in December 2022 after his jet tracking account annoyed Elon Musk, according to The Washington Post. Musk called the tracking of aircraft a form of "doxxing" and compared sharing this flight information, which is publicly available FAA data, to revealing his "assassination coordinates." However, Sweeney was back on X with his flight tracker account since he agreed to abide by the site’s doxxing rules.
Morrone says that Sweeney's flight tracking bot has heightened her [Taylor Swift] “constant state of fear for her personal safety.” She further emphasised that the matter is very important to their client [Swift], even though he might see this as a form of entertainment or personal benefit. She further noted that there is no valid reason for anyone to access this information except to “stalk, harass, and exert dominion and control.”
On the matter of the alleged connection between Swift’s stalkers and the information on Sweeney’s jet tracking account, Swift's spokeswoman,
Tree Paine
, said, "We cannot comment on any ongoing police investigation but can confirm the timing of stalkers suggests a connection. His posts tell you exactly when and where she would be."
Sweeney told The Post that he perceived the letter he received as a tactic to intimidate him and stop him from sharing public data. The data shared by accounts is public via FAA & private jet signals, but Sweeney’s social media posts have made them easier to access.
"This information is already available in the public domain," he said. "Her team believes they have the power to control everything." The 21-year-old claims that the data he has is limited insight into the cities where Taylor Swift may be present, similar to her publicly available schedules for concerts or NFL games.
In December, around the time when Sweeney received the cease-and-desist letter, Facebook and Instagram disabled Sweeney's accounts for tracking Taylor Swift's air travel. Sweeney then began posting updates on Facebook and Instagram accounts called Celeb Jets. But, then he received a second letter from Swift’s attorneys claiming that his posts constituted "harassing conduct."
Interestingly, the cease-and-desist letter from Swift’s attorney and the deactivation of his social media accounts coincided when Swift was criticised for her private jet’s environmental impact. Sweeney’s account estimated the jet’s carbon footprint, and Taylor Swift’s Taylor Swift's jet apparently left a carbon footprint of 138 tons of CO2 emissions in three months, over which she was been 'flight shamed.'
Taylor Swift had been reported to have the highest carbon footprint from flying, which her representatives disputed, stating that her jet is regularly loaned out to other individuals.
Despite two letters, Jack Sweeney continues to share updates on Swift and other celebrities’ private jets on different social media platforms, and he has created accounts on X that post-flight updates with 24-hour delay to comply with the no real-time location rule of the site.
Sweeney's lawyer, James Slater, responded to Swift's cease-and-desist letter, claiming that there were no legal claims against Sweeney. Slater argued that Sweeney's account was protected speech and did not violate any of Swift's legal rights. “This isn’t about putting a GPS tracker on someone and invading their privacy. It’s using public information to track the jet of a public figure,” Slater said. “This is their means to try to quash a PR issue and bully my client to have the bad coverage die down.”
English (US) ·