Taylor Swift’s Legal Team Threatens College Student Who Is Charting Her Private Jet’s Movements

Taylor Swift’s legal representatives have issued a warning of potential legal consequences to a college student from Florida who operates social media accounts that monitor the flights of private jets owned by celebrities, such as Swift.

Jack Sweeney, a junior at the University of Central Florida, has managed these accounts for several years, and the accounts provide information regarding the takeoffs, landings and estimated emissions of planes and helicopters that belong to various public figures, such as billionaires, politicians and Russian oligarchs. The data utilized by Sweeney is publicly available from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and is contributed by volunteer hobbyists who track aircraft signals.

In December, Swift’s attorney, Katie Wright Morrone, sent Sweeney a cease-and-desist letter that warned that legal action would be pursued if he did not stop his “stalking and harassing behavior.”

Morrone’s letter claimed that Swift and her family had suffered “direct and irreparable harm” as well as emotional and physical distress due to Sweeney’s accounts.

The letter further stated that Swift lived in a constant state of fear for her personal safety. The document highlighted previous instances of stalkers appearing outside Swift’s residences, with one individual recently arrested on charges of stalking and harassment outside her townhouse in Manhattan.

Sweeney, 21, told The Post that he saw the cease-and-desist letter as an attempt to intimidate him and prevent the sharing of public data. He asserted that his accounts merely provide a partial glimpse into the cities Swift might be in, similar to the public schedules of her concerts or her attendance at NFL games. Sweeney believes that the letters were timed to coincide with criticism of Swift’s environmental impact caused by her flights.

Private jet flights have long been criticized for their significant contribution to climate change. Sweeney’s accounts have often been used to name and shame celebrities who frequently use private jets.

In 2022, an analysis cited Sweeney’s accounts and claimed that Swift was the “biggest celebrity [carbon dioxide] polluter” of the year. Swift’s publicist disputed the analysis and stated that her jet was often loaned to others. Additionally, Swift reportedly purchased more than double the necessary carbon credits to offset her travel before she embarked on her recent tour.

Around the same time, Sweeney received the cease-and-desist letter, and Facebook and Instagram disabled his accounts tracking Swift’s air travel. Sweeney began to post updates on other accounts on Facebook and Instagram under the name “Celeb Jets,” which track the travel of planes used by various celebrities.

Planes in the sky transmit their locations through transponders, which allows air traffic controllers and pilots to track their routes. Ground-based individuals can also access this information using inexpensive devices called ADS-B receivers, which receive the signals broadcast by the aircraft.

While the FAA allows plane owners to request that their flights be hidden from popular consumer flight-tracking websites like FlightAware, many aviation enthusiasts contribute their data to independent platforms like ADS-B Exchange, which are not covered by these requests. These sites have been used by criminal investigators, journalists and researchers to access historical flight paths and identify aircraft flying overhead.

Last Sunday, Swift became the first person to win the Best Album Grammy for the fourth time.

The singer is expected to fly back from Japan to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday to see her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, play for the Kansas City Chiefs.