Tracking private jets of American celebrities may soon become a thing of the past. Will Taylor Swift and Elon Musk finally get their way?
American celebrities like Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg are far from pleased with Jack Sweeney. This computer science student has been managing the platform Ground Control since 2022, which shows where celebrities are flying with their private jets – and how much CO₂ they are emitting. The technology Sweeney uses is entirely legal. Ground Control relies on publicly accessible transponder data to track and disclose private jet flights in real-time. What started as a hobby project quickly became a source of frustration for the rich and famous.
Elon Musk even offered Sweeney money to stop tracking his jet. Taylor Swift’s lawyers demanded that Sweeney immediately stop publishing her flight data and delete all previous posts. So far, Sweeney has not had to comply as he only uses public data.
Legal Change
However, this may soon change. The U.S. aviation authority, the FAA, has announced that private jet owners will soon have the option to shield their registration data from the public. Additionally, the FAA is investigating whether these data can be made confidential by default. Logically, one might suspect that this policy change is influenced by Trump ally Musk. However, this suspicion seems unfounded, as the FAA Reauthorization Act, which includes this measure, was passed during President Biden’s term. Although the plans are well-advanced, not everything is finalized. The FAA is currently investigating the potential impact of this anonymization on safety. It is important for oversight bodies to be able to track these aircraft as well.