We all have our favorite celebrity, and when we hear some news we get excited and try to always be aware of the updates they share through their social networks, but what happens when the obsession goes much further to the extent of tracking to know where that person is at all times?
Recently American singer Taylor Swift has found herself back in many talking points, if not for her big win at the 2024 Grammy Awards, it’s because of a lawsuit she’s filed against a college student who has been blatantly tracking the You Belong With Me singer’s private jet.
A junior at the University of Central Florida, Jack Sweeney has been keeping an accounting for years that tracks the takeoffs and landings of planes and helicopters owned by important people. These reports also include estimates of emissions from these vehicles that contribute to global warming.
Jack Sweeney is an American entrepreneur and computer programmer. In 2022, he became famous for using Twitter bots to track private planes of Russian oligarchs and other celebrities, including Elon Musk. In an interview with Bloomberg Wealth in February 2022, Sweeney claimed he was creating a company called “Ground Control” to monitor the flight activity of top billionaires.
The accounts use public data from the Federal Aviation Administration, along with the ability of volunteer amateurs to track aircraft through the signals they transmit. Swift’s attorney, from the Washington law firm Venable, sent Sweeney a cease-and-desist letter in December, threatening to “take any and all legal action” if Taylor Swift continued his “harassing and bullying conduct.”
As per a duplicate of the correspondence delivered to Sweeney’s parents, the attorney, Katie Wright Morrone, wrote. Sweeney gave The Washington Post access to the letter. 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.”
What do you think about this, and what do you think will happen with this young man? Do you think Taylor Swift should sue the young man for revealing her flight information? Do you think Taylor Swift will follow through with the lawsuit?