Taylor Swift has issued a legal threat against a Florida college student.
Jack Sweeney, the Florida college student known for using publicly available data to monitor the flights of private planes owned by billionaires, celebrities, and politicians, is facing legal action after receiving a letter from Taylor Swift’s lawyers in December regarding his tracking of her plane’s flights.
As reported by The Washington Post, the letter was directed to Jack Sweeney, the same programmer and University of Central Florida student who was briefly suspended in 2022 after his jet tracking account caused controversy with Elon Musk.
Swift’s legal team referenced safety concerns in the letter sent to Sweeney, threatening legal action if he didn’t cease his “stalking and harassing behavior.” They accused the jet tracker account of causing Swift and her family “direct and irreparable harm, as well as emotional and physical distress.” The letter also argued that there was “no legitimate interest in or public need for this information, other than to stalk, harass, and exert dominion and control.”
Sweeney defended his work, stating that the information he provides is equivalent to other publicly accessible data that typically includes the cities and countries where Swift may be, such as her tour schedule or the NFL schedule of the Kansas City Chiefs.
“This information is already out there,” he said. “Her team thinks they can control the world.”
James Slater, a lawyer representing Sweeney, responded to the cease-and-desist letter, asserting that Swift’s team failed to identify any actual legal claims against Sweeney.
In a statement, Slater added: “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. This is their means to try to quash a PR issue and bully my client to have the bad coverage die down.”
Swift is scheduled to be on that jet when she departs from her concert in Tokyo and travels to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl.
