Current:Home > FinanceTaylor Swift's private jet tracker claps back, saying he's done 'nothing unlawful' -Prosperity Pathways
Taylor Swift's private jet tracker claps back, saying he's done 'nothing unlawful'
View
Date:2025-04-24 10:57:41
One college student has no problem sharing Taylor Swift's flight paths all too well.
University of Central Florida student Jack Sweeney is pushing back on a cease-and-desist letter sent to him by Swift's attorney demanding he stop publicly posting the singer's flights on her jet. The 21-year-old ran the now-defunct Instagram page @taylorswiftjets, where he reported her flight activity using data from various sources of publicly available information.
Swift's attorney, Katie Wright Morrone, sent multiple letters to Sweeney demanding that he stop tracking and publicly sharing her flight information. In a dismissive reply shared on X on Monday, Sweeney's attorney said the 22-year-old student and his company, GRNDCTRL, did nothing illegal.
Sweeney captioned the post, "Look What You Made Me Do," referencing the title track off Swift's 2017 "Reputation" album. He also shared the two letters sent to him by Swift's team.
"Put simply, there is nothing unlawful about GRNDCTRL's use of publicly accessible information to track private jets, including those by public figures like Taylor Swift," wrote Sweeney's attorney, James Slater.
Slater argued that Sweeney's speech is protected and did not violate any of Swift's legal rights. He added that GRNDCTRL has also reported flight history for Russian oligarchs and Elon Musk.
'Texas Hold 'Em':Beyoncé becomes first Black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart
Attorneys rejects claims he posed 'credible threat' to Swift
Swift's attorneys argue that Sweeney's actions put the popstar at risk by providing up-to-date location information accessible to potential stalkers and would-be harassers.
Slater rejected those claims by clarifying that Sweeney is using information that is already made publicly available. He added that the language in Morrone's letter defines a stalker as someone who poses a "credible threat" to a victim.
"Our clients have never made any threats against Ms. Swift and your letter does not suggest they have done so," Slater said. "Further, your letter's tone is unfounded."
USA TODAY has reached out to Swift's representatives for comment.
How is Taylor Swift's jet being tracked?
Sweeney has multiple social media accounts tracking aircrafts belonging to celebrities, billionaires and politicians, with some even analyzing the carbon footprint of the jet owners' trips.
The information doesn't come from one source bur rather uses data pieced together from a few different sources of publicly available information, such as registration information from the Federal Aviation Administration, and broadcast signals from the planes themselves. Those signals are known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, data.
ADS-B technology is required by the Federal Aviation Administration on aircraft and shares real-time position, altitude and other information that is important to air traffic controllers. The data also allows for sites like FlightAware.com to show real-time commercial flight locations.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci and Christopher Cann
veryGood! (36341)
Related
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Shipping Group Leaps Into Europe’s Top 10 Polluters List
- Judge Delays Injunction Ruling as Native American Pipeline Protest Grows
- UN Climate Talks Stymied by Carbon Markets’ ‘Ghost from the Past’
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Here's How North West and Kim Kardashian Supported Tristan Thompson at a Lakers Game
- Thousands of Reddit forums are going dark this week. Here's why.
- Step Inside Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne's $4.8 Million Los Angeles Home
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Why Alexis Ohanian Is Convinced He and Pregnant Serena Williams Are Having a Baby Girl
Ranking
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Solar Energy Surging in Italy, Outpacing U.S.
- Myrlie Evers opens up about her marriage to civil rights icon Medgar Evers. After his murder, she took up his fight.
- Historian on Trump indictment: Our system is working … Nobody is above the law
- 'Most Whopper
- Joining Trend, NY Suspends Review of Oil Train Terminal Permit
- Step Inside Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne's $4.8 Million Los Angeles Home
- Selling Sunset's Maya Vander Welcomes Baby Following Miscarriage and Stillbirth
Recommendation
Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
Demi Lovato Recalls Feeling So Relieved After Receiving Bipolar Diagnosis
Anxiety Is Up. Here Are Some Tips On How To Manage It.
Texas inmate Trent Thompson climbs over fence to escape jail, captured about 250 miles away
Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
This is what displaced Somalians want you to know about their humanitarian crisis
People addicted to opioids rarely get life-saving medications. That may change.
Tulsi Gabbard on Climate Change: Where the Candidate Stands