To call Taylor Swift one of the hottest recording artists of today would be an understatement. Through every era of the pop star's career, she’s been dominating the charts, awards season, and the box office with her Eras Tour concert film. Considering all this, her global adventures are a major point of interest in pop culture, and a college student has started tracking her flights. Then, the singer's lawyers filed a cease and desist letter against the student, and now a legal expert explained why there's a potential problem with it.
University of Florida student Jack Sweeney has been using his X account @SwiftJetNextDay to track Taylor Swift’s jet usage 24 hours after they’ve been taken. He’s been getting his information about her globetrotting adventures through the publicly available Federal Aviation Administration data. To prevent this information from getting into the wrong hands, Swift’s attorneys have threatened to file a lawsuit against Sweeney.
However, Frank Salzano, a managing partner at the sports and entertainment law firm Lampert & Wilson, LLP, told Newsweek why a cease and desist letter would be problematic for a case like this. Here’s what he said in a statement:
This matter raises novel legal issues due to the fact that the college student is technically not violating any of Swift's privacy rights since the data is publicly available and is simply being posted on social media by the student. However, it is important to note that the laws and legal precedent typically lag technological advances in society. As the law needs to play catch up, accordingly, it is possible that laws may get implemented in the future making the student's conduct illegal, but I see no viable legal theory currently that would entitle Swift to any redress.
Frank Salzano does make a point that with Taylor Swift’s travel information being publicly broadcasted, Jack Sweeney technically isn’t doing anything illegal. He’s just been reporting what’s already out there. Sweeney has been tweeting about the private jet usage of many huge public figures like Ron DeSantis, Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, and others as well.
Swift's lawyers are saying that this tracking information could assist stalkers in following the pop star, which is one of the reasons why they've threatened legal action. Stalkers have been something the singer has dealt with for years. For example, one stalker of Taylor Swift’s was arrested five years ago because he was in front of her property after driving all the way from Colorado to meet her. Another one was caught scaling her building, and another one was armed believing himself to be her husband. While the 34-year-old’s travel information is public, her legal team is noting that it could be dangerous if all of this data is publicized further through a social media account with 95.2k followers.
Taylor Swift, who is known for her controversial private jet usage, has had to use her personal mode of transportation a lot lately. After performing in Tokyo from February 7 to 10, she had to fly 11.5 hours after her final show to make it to Las Vegas ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, where she was seen cheering on her boyfriend Travis Kelce. Jack Sweeney argued to Newsweek that with so many people interested in where the "Bad Blood" singer is, either he or another social media user will be tracking her whereabouts.
According to Salzano, it looks like Taylor Swift’s legal team would have trouble creating a case against Jack Sweeney for tracking her travels since he’s reporting public knowledge. But based on his follow up comment, maybe the law will change eventually to prevent social media users from creating tracking posts like this.
As the pop star continues to travel around the world on her Eras Tour, make sure you can take a glimpse at Taylor Swift’s upcoming projects so you’re in the loop about what else is in store for the award-winning artist. When it comes to this legal situation surrounding her flights, we'll be sure to keep you posted.
