The college student who monitors emissions from luxury private jets said he has no intention of stopping. Taylor Swift cannot get a break from him.
Recently, Jack Sweeney, who has gained widespread notoriety, said that he will not be intimidated by those in positions of authority.
The college student who has gained widespread recognition for his social media account that documents notable public figures' private jet travels talked with Fox News Digital about his determination to carry on in spite of severe warnings and criticism from people like Elon Musk and Taylor Swift.
A junior at the University of Central Florida, Jack Sweeney began following select jet users' flights and movements during the COVID-19 outbreak using publicly accessible data.
Sweeney has monitored the private jet travels of celebrities including Mark Cuban, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Swift, and Musk using flight data released by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The lawyers representing Swift wrote Sweeney a cease-and-desist letter in December, accusing him of giving stalkers information about Swift's whereabouts through automated surveillance of her private plane.
They said that "the timing of stalkers" suggested a link to Sweeney's flight-tracking websites.
Swift, who has faced stalkers throughout her career, is currently experiencing unprecedented levels of fame thanks to her "Eras" concert tour.
Sweeney was further charged with "disregarding the personal safety of others" ; "willful and repeated harassment" ; as well as "intentional, offensive, and outrageous conduct and consistent violations of our client's privacy."
"We don't know what's happening other than what we've been told, but the letter from Ms. Swift's lawyers came shortly after increased public scrutiny of the carbon emissions from her frequent private jet travel," Ethan Jacobs, Sweeney's attorney, said.
"There is not, as we know, a specific threat to Ms. Swift's personal safety that is the result of somebody knowing when her jet landed someplace."
"The information that Mr. Sweeney publishes through his accounts lets the public know where celebrities are traveling if they're interested in them, lets them know about the carbon emissions from their planes and other information that generally benefits society, and making it harder to access would be bad for all of us," he stated.
As a college student, Sweeney found it "really quite unbelievable" that Swift and her crew and other influential individuals were pursuing him. Swift's use of aircraft and environmental impact have drawn criticism at times, but according to her agents, she has bought more than twice as many "carbon credits" to make up for it.
"There's all kinds of people who track planes, I'm not the only one, it's just I'm the one getting awareness for it," Sweeney stated.
Sweeney was once suspended from Twitter, now X, in 2022 by owner Elon Musk. The rationale was that the sharing of real-time location inform ation violated the platform's terms of service and was dangerous for himself and members of his family. Sweeney's account has since been restored.
"Sweeney is an awful human being," Musk posted on Feb. 6. "Taylor Swift is right to be concerned."
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