this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2024
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In late December, Swift’s camp hit Jack Sweeney, a junior studying information technology at the University of Central Florida, with a cease-and-desist letter that blamed his automated tracking of her private jet for tipping off stalkers as to her location. In the letter, attorneys from the law firm Venable accused Sweeney of effectively providing “individuals intent on harming her, or with nefarious or violent intentions, a roadmap to carry out their plans.”

Sweeney provided the link to that letter in an email to the Associated Press. In that message, he emphasized that while he has never intended to cause harm, he also believes strongly in the importance 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.

A spokesperson for Swift echoed the legal complaint, saying that “the timing of stalkers” suggests a connection to Sweeney’s flight-tracking sites. The spokesperson did not respond to questions seeking elaboration of that charge, such as whether stalkers have been seen waiting for Swift at the airport when her plane arrived or, alternatively, if there is evidence that stalkers have somehow inferred Swift’s subsequent location from the arrival time of her flight.

The legal letter likewise accuses Sweeney 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.”

Such statements are difficult to square with the fact that Sweeney’s automated tracking accounts merely repackage public data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, a government agency. That fact did not dissuade the Venable attorneys, who demanded that Sweeney “immediately stop providing information about our client’s location to the public.”

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[–] kernelle@0d.gs 260 points 9 months ago (4 children)

I thought we went over this already? Public data is public.

[–] Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 159 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yes we did, with elon. He ended up banning the accounts on xitter, after saying he would not do so.

[–] phoneymouse@lemmy.world 48 points 9 months ago

You can still find it on Mastodon though

https://mastodon.social/@elonjet

[–] Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I am also a bit lost as to why Swift would bring this suit. Most of her (work) trips are already public information, since being a public person is part of her job description. It’s a bit like the president complaining that we are tracking Airforce 1 when all news networks already report where he is going.

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[–] Nacktmull@lemmy.world 163 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Nobody should have a private jet anyway.

[–] cmoney@lemmy.world 145 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (8 children)

Didn't Elon try something similar and lost in court? In case anyone is interested silicon jets tracks billionaires jets.

Edit: I confused silicone and silicon.

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[–] cozy_agent@lemmy.world 123 points 9 months ago (23 children)

Interesting how as soon as someone becomes a billionaire they become a dickhead, at least publicly.

[–] the_q@lemmy.world 57 points 9 months ago

Nah they were always dickheads... it becomes ok to show it when they hit that billion dollars mark though.

[–] 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 37 points 9 months ago (8 children)

I live under Iraq and this comment made me look up whether she's a billionaire. Guess that's why she's been in the news so much lately. Jesus. I wish the billionaire count was going down, not up.

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[–] rab@lemmy.ca 33 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I believe the opposite, you need to have dickhead qualities to become a billionaire

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[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 102 points 9 months ago (47 children)

Another point goes to the Streisand Effect.

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[–] BobGnarley@lemm.ee 95 points 9 months ago (20 children)

Well here's a wild idea, why not ride on a normal god damn plane like 90% of every other person who flies. Boom, can't be traced by some kid then AND its better by a wide range for the environment. Nothing to see here but rich people problems lol

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[–] o_oli@lemmy.world 87 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Maybe she should buy twitter and ban the guy, or is this the wrong billionaire I am thinking of?

[–] mp3@lemmy.ca 31 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The guy is on Mastodon, tough luck on that one.

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[–] doubletwist@lemmy.world 86 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

I's she also going to sue Ticketmaster and her own PR team for publicly releasing every city she's going to in her tours?

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[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 82 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Yeeeeah... I understand her not wanting it to be easier for stalkers to track her, but also private jets are a luxury that's very bad for the environment, and the information is public anyway. Swift shouldn't win this one.

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[–] TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz 79 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Lol, I love that article. The author clearly also thinks that Taylor and her goons are full of shit on this one. Like, it's public information provided by the FAA. Will they sue the FAA then?

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[–] dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 78 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Publicly available information from the FAA. Simple as.

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[–] Jakdracula@lemmy.world 72 points 9 months ago

I’m team Florida student.

[–] alienanimals@lemmy.world 69 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It sounds tough being a billionaire. She should give it all up.

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[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 67 points 9 months ago (2 children)

She "disregards" everyone's safety by flying in a private jet.

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[–] SpiceDealer@lemmy.world 54 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

The stalker argument is absolute bullshit. A stalker would most likely not use the flight path of Swift's private jet as a means of stalking her; it would be too cumbersome. Additionally, this is not "willful and repeated harassment" of Swift since Mr. Sweeny, as stated in the title and the article, obtained the information from public data provided by FAA. The intent of Mr. Sweeny's tracking project was not to expose Swift to nefarious individuals but to expose the environmental impact of her private jet. The rich and famous are public figures and, as such, are open to criticism from the public. This is merely a flex (and a futile one at that) by someone with the resources to silence critics.

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[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 53 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Hey, Ms Swift...? I love some of your music and political opinions. But can you please go fuck yourself? Public = public. You have more privileges than most working people will ever earn in a lifetime, combined. And the climate emergency WE are all experiencing is irreversible...

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[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 51 points 9 months ago

This is like trying to stop paparazzi... No legal grounds.

[–] FengaNails@lemmy.world 50 points 9 months ago (7 children)

I bet swift could fly first class and get through the airport without being identified. But the convenience of a private jet is just too sweet.

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 44 points 9 months ago

She's concerned for her personal safety, but shouldn't I also be concerned for the risks she brings to me from her excessive co2 production?

[–] BruceTwarzen@kbin.social 41 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Just buy three more jets and send them around all the time you dummie

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[–] VieuxQueb@lemmy.ca 41 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Well, I had no opinion of her since I don't follow her entertainment. And I did not care about her. I thought sheust be not so bad to have such a following but now she publicly displayed she is as deranged and out of touch as the other billionaires out there. Thus I now have an opinion on her and it's not good.

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[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 37 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (13 children)

Is this Jack Sweeney's tracker?

https://jackstech.net/planes

Which one is Taylor Swift's plane? Is it "Cosmic Girl?"

He has a much better site right here. It's awesome!!! https://globe.theairtraffic.com/

I'm literally here watching the planes on the map and listening to the noises as they pass by. What's wrong with this at all? It's like just tracking cars and the guy is doing nothing more than just relaying data.

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[–] randon31415@lemmy.world 36 points 9 months ago

Have we ever seen Musk and Swift in the same place at the same time?

[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 32 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'd love for this to go to court, the judge to tell Swift to fuck off, pay the defendants legal fees and a massive fee for a frivolous lawsuit wasting the courts time 🤞

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[–] MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml 32 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Very stupid of her to bring attention to this, because I didn't even know she had a private jet, now more people are aware of Sweeney's website.

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[–] PiJiNWiNg@sh.itjust.works 29 points 9 months ago (8 children)

Excuse my ignorance, but if her legal team decided to sue him into the ground, there's virtually nothing he could do about it, right? There's no recourse to protect "the little guy" from being legally bullied? Would his best bet be to find someone willing to work pro bono with potential to countersue for damages?

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[–] plz1@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago (1 children)

So the legal complaint has no merit (even more so) if he just delays the feed by a day or two.

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[–] riodoro1@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago (2 children)

What a bitch.

I like all the money, attention and being treated like god, but please don’t invade my privacy.

Well you can’t have one without the other, I’m not going to hold my breath for you giving up your fame tho.

[–] vala@lemmy.world 30 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's not even an invasion of privacy. The flight info is public.

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