San Francisco: Swift is once again in hot water. When dealing with a Florida college student who uses public data and social media to monitor billionaires, politicians, and other celebrities’ private jets, Taylor Swift appears unable to move on.
Swift’s camp issued a cease-and-desist letter to Jack Sweeney, a junior studying computer technology at the University of Central Florida, in late December, accusing him of tipping off stalkers about her whereabouts through automated tracking of her private jet. In the letter, attorneys from the law firm Venable accused Sweeney of essentially handing “individuals intent on harming her, or with nefarious or violent intentions, a roadmap to carry out their plans.”
Taylor Swift Is Demanding This College Student Stop Tracking Her Private Jet
Sweeney sent The Associated Press an email containing a link to that letter. In that message, he stated that he had never intended to cause harm but passionately believed in the value of transparency and public information.
“One should reasonably expect that their jet will be tracked, whether or not I’m the one doing it, as it is public information after all,” he wrote in a blog post.
Swift’s spokeswoman echoed the legal suit, claiming that “the timing of stalkers” indicates a connection to Sweeney’s flight-tracking services. The spokesperson did not respond to questions seeking clarification on that charge, such as whether stalkers were seen waiting for Swift at the airport when her plane arrived or if there is evidence that stalkers inferred Swift’s subsequent location based on her flight’s arrival time.
Sweeney is also accused in the legal letter of “disregarding the personal safety of others”, “willful and repeated harassment of our client”, and “intentional, offensive, and outrageous conduct and consistent violations of our client’s privacy.”
Taylor Swift Is Demanding This College Student Stop Tracking Her Private Jet
Such claims are difficult to reconcile with the reality that Sweeney’s automatic tracking systems repackage public data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, a government body. This fact did not deter the Venable attorneys, who requested that Sweeney “immediately stop providing information about our client’s location to the public.”
The Swift representative should have responded whether the attorneys made the same demand to the FAA.
Taylor Swift is one of several celebrities who have faced criticism for using private jets. If she flies from Tokyo to the Super Bowl, she will generate 19,000 miles of greenhouse gas emissions.
One analyst questioned why Swift was scrutinised, given that most private jet passengers are men over 50.
Swift’s spokeswoman stated that the celebrity purchased more than double the carbon credits required to offset all tour travel.
Taylor Swift Is Demanding This College Student Stop Tracking Her Private Jet
Sweeney formerly had over 30 such accounts on Twitter, now known as X, after Elon Musk paid $44 billion for the platform in 2022. Musk later disagreed with Sweeney, writing at one point that his dedication to free speech forced him not to deactivate Sweeney’s @elonjet account, even though he thought it “a direct personal safety risk.”
But it wasn’t long before Musk abruptly reversed course and effectively barred the student from X, accusing Sweeney of compromising his safety.
SOURCE – (AP)
