Over the past several years, Taylor Swift has been waging a relentless battle against individuals who have been publicly disclosing her private jet's flight details on social media platforms. Fortunately for the beloved pop star, she recently received some encouraging news on this front.
Swift, alongside her legal team, has consistently combated those who share her flight information openly. Her lawyers have been locked in a legal tug-of-war with Florida college student Jack Sweeney, over his social media account that regularly posts updates about Swift's private jet flights.
Back in February, Swift's legal representatives issued a stern Cease and Desist letter to Sweeney, warning him of potential legal ramifications. The letter stated, "For the past year, you have utilized these offending accounts to engage in stalking and harassing behavior, consistently publishing real-time and precise information about our client's whereabouts to the public on social media. This conduct poses a serious threat to our client's safety and wellbeing, and it must cease immediately. We demand that you halt all further publication of this information, remove all existing content from the offending accounts, and permanently deactivate these accounts (along with any similar accounts involving our client)." The letter further accused Sweeney of being "infamous for disregarding the personal safety of others in pursuit of public attention and/or financial gain."
In response to the Cease and Desist letter, Sweeney's attorneys contended that his actions were "entirely lawful," arguing that he was merely sharing information that was publicly accessible.
However, tracking Swift's flights may soon become a more challenging task for Sweeney and others. In a welcome development for the pop superstar, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) introduced new legislation on Friday, which is expected to make it more difficult to track her private aircraft.
Under the new regulations, owners of private aircraft can now request that the FAA withhold their registration numbers for non-commercial flights. Additionally, the FAA will keep personal information, such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails, out of the public domain.
The new law also provides for aircraft owners who can demonstrate a security need to apply for a new aircraft identification code. This code is utilized by the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system to track aircraft in real-time.
Given Swift's prior efforts to curb the sharing of her flight information due to safety concerns, it is highly likely that she will request for her details to be kept private. Moreover, it is evident that she will be able to demonstrate a genuine security need for this privacy measure.
