Jack Sweeney, who's attracted attention from Swift and Elon Musk, calls himself an aviation enthusiast

The college student who has garnered national attention for his social media account that tracks the private jet excursions of important public figures spoke with Fox News Digital about his resolve to keep doing so, despite strong warnings and harsh words from the likes of Taylor Swift and Elon Musk.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jack Sweeney, a junior at the University of Central Florida, started tracking the flights and locations of some jet users based on publicly available information. Using the flight data published by the Federal Aviation Administration, Sweeney has tracked the private jet flights of figures like Swift, Musk, Mark Cuban, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.

In December, Swift's attorneys sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sweeney, blaming his automated tracking of her private jet for tipping off stalkers about her location, stating that "the timing of stalkers" suggests a connection to Sweeney’s flight-tracking sites. Swift, who has dealt with stalkers throughout her career, is in the midst of her record-breaking "Eras" concert tour that's brought her to new heights of stardom.

Sweeney was also accused of "disregarding the personal safety of others"; "willful and repeated harassment"; and "intentional, offensive, and outrageous conduct and consistent violations of our client’s privacy."

"We don't know what's happening other than what we've been told, but the letter from Ms. Swift's lawyers came shortly after increased public scrutiny of the carbon emissions from her frequent private jet travel," Sweeney's lawyer, Ethan Jacobs, said. "There is not, as we know, a specific threat to Ms. Swift's personal safety that is the result of somebody knowing when her jet landed someplace."

"The information that Mr. Sweeney publishes through his accounts lets the public know where celebrities are traveling if they're interested in them, lets them know about the carbon emissions from their planes and other information that generally benefits society, and making it harder to access would be bad for all of us," he added.

Sweeney described it as "really quite unbelievable" that, as a college student, he has powerful people like Swift and her team coming after him. Swift has taken criticism at times for her use of jets and its effect on the environment, but her representatives say she's purchased more than double the "carbon credits" to offset its impact, according to the Washington Post.

"There's all kinds of people who track planes, I'm not the only one, it's just I'm the one getting awareness for it," Sweeney said.

"It's crazy to send a letter like that when there were thousands of people tracking her besides me and you want me to stop?" he added. "It's kind of crazy because other people are going to do it anyway, and at the end of the day, it's public information. I'm not doing anything illegal."

Using publicly available transponder signals transmitted by planes, he said he and thousands of other aviation hobbyists use the transponder signals that are transmitted openly in the air from planes. This data is mandated by the FAA.

Sweeney said he has simply made it easier for people to view this data by setting up automated social media accounts to track the miles, location, jet fuel, cost of fuel and tons of CO2 emissions for every flight a public figure takes. If people have expertise and know what they are doing, Sweeney said anybody could do what he does.

Jacobs said Sweeney has done nothing unlawful by creating social media accounts that are only republishing public information, calling it an empty threat.

"The letter that Ms. Swift's team of lawyers sent to Mr. Sweeney, does some sort of hand-waving to suggest that his account is unlawful," he said. "But it's also only in the most vague kind of way. That's because there is no law that prohibits republishing the publicly available flight information that is on the accounts that Mr. Sweeney makes available."

Sweeney was suspended from Twitter, now X, in 2022 by owner Elon Musk, who said the sharing of real-time location information violated the platform’s terms of service and was dangerous for himself and members of his family. Sweeney's account has since been restored.

"Sweeney is an awful human being," Musk posted on Feb. 6. "Taylor Swift is right to be concerned."

"These are some of the biggest people in the world and really, I started out being a fan of Elon Musk, and now he obviously really does not like me," Sweeney said. "Which is unbelievable."

"I like to just bring awareness to the facts and information," he added. "I'm not going to say that you shouldn't or should use private jets, I just want to put the information there. I don't want to force anybody's view on anything."

Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington, told "Good Morning America" earlier this month that he didn't see any civil or criminal violation in Sweeney's conduct.

Sweeney said he plans to continue doing what he does because he believes it's important knowledge for people to have.

"I'm not going to let someone in a bigger power position try to hide that information from the people when I think the fact of them trying to hide it makes it even much more important for transparency to be shared," he said.

Jacobs said it's common for wealthy people to have teams of people working for them, which includes lawyers, who send letters to try to "push people around."

In the letter to Sweeney, Swift's lawyers called him out as "notorious for disregarding the personal safety of others in exchange for public attention and/or requests for financial gain." Jacobs said he and Sweeney don't take lightly the question of whether it is the right thing to do.

"We are aware of your public disputes with other high-profile individuals and your tactics in those interactions, including offering to stop your harmful behavior only in exchange for items of value," Swift's team wrote in the letter. "While this may be a game to you, or an avenue that you hope will earn you wealth or fame, it is a life-or-death matter for our Client."

Tree Paine, a spokeswoman for Swift, told the Washington Post earlier this month, "We cannot comment on any ongoing police investigation but can confirm the timing of stalkers suggests a connection. His posts tell you exactly when and where she would be."

Jacobs said Sweeney had not been made aware of evidence that his account could help someone hurt Swift. He added such letters from powerful people like Swift might chill speech even if there is no legal basis.

She's been sharing photos and videos of herself in the skimpy swimwear set over the past few days. 

And on Friday, Britney Spears, 40, slipped back into her yellow thong bikini and showed off her bottom as she danced around in heels for her latest Instagram upload.

In the fun video, the Womanizer hitmaker also wrote that she has 'angst beneath her bones' and is 'raising hell' as her infamous family war rumbles on.

Britney displayed her washboard abs while shaking her hips from side-to-side before facing away from the camera to showcase her pert behind as she continued to pull out her best moves.

She danced around in her triangle bikini set to Mark Ronson's upbeat track - Feel Right featuring Mystikal.

The pop star shielded her eyes with white-rimmed aviator shades and opted to strut her stuff in tan coloured pointed stiletto heels.

Britney included a lengthy caption, which read: 'Part 3 to my yellow bathing suit…. I'm bringing such a delicate feature to the screen this summer … featuring ''my a**'…

'And since most know me so well, this double ray of sunshine might just light up your world with a subtitle called 'apples'!!!

'Because that's the only thing raining on me. I might even make some juice with this flood…

'but with two new animals in my home as I depart for some alone time … I do miss them so much, yet there's an angst beneath my bones that knows there's something else I'm beginning to raise as in rise …

'It's raising hell to a T … so defiant and sharp it puts a splendor up any man's a** 8 feet away, so beckon if you may or cry out with tongue or better yet whisper with one prayer !!!!

'You know why ???? Because raising hell is a departure on all levels. So nice to SHARE and GOD BLESS YOU ALL.'

It has been a rough start to 2022 for the 40-year-old pop icon has been battling her father Jamie Spears as well as her younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears, who has been pushing her new book Things I Should Have Said which details her troublesome relationship with the recording artist.

The pop princess is still celebrating the end of controversial conservatorship after 13 years of her professional and personal life being largely controlled by her father, Jamie Spears.

During what's been described as her fight for freedom, Spears made a series of accusations against her dad, telling a court: 'My dad and anyone involved in this conservatorship and my management who played a key role in punishing me, they should be in jail.'

In return, Spears' father has requested her medical records be made public.

The singer's conservatorship still has a legal battle is in place over the details of the completion of the agreement and at a hearing on Wednesday, lawyers acting for Jamie Spears requested all records relating to the case be unsealed so people can hear the 'truth', arguing the public had a 'right to know'.

But Britney's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, branded the request 'offensive' and 'highly inappropriate', insisting Jamie was only keen to save his own reputation.

He added: 'We don't think a father who loves his daughter would file to unseal her medical records.'

Jamie's lawyer, Alex Weingarten, had argued it was hard to get their side of the story heard thanks to Britney's social media platform and her lawyer's media presence, telling the judge: 'The problem is we are fighting with our hands behind our back.'

Judge Brenda Penny ruled to seal the conservatorship termination plan, citing the singer's 'right to privacy over her private medical information' and also denied a request to put a hold on conservatorship funds.

The three-hour hearing saw some explosive confrontations between the lawyers, with Weingarten accusing Rosengart of planting false stories, such as claimed Jamie was aware of secret surveillance watching over his daughter.

After Rosengart insisted there was 'strong evidence' Jamie - who served as co-conservator of Britney's affairs - had been involved in 'very intense and potentially illegal' surveillance over the star, his fellow lawyer said: 'Virtually everything that is alleged is demonstratively false or taken out of context.'

Britney's legal representative exclaimed: 'Lies!. He should be admonished. He has attacked me. He has attacked this court. And it is intolerable,' to which Weingarten then shouted back: 'It didn't happen!'

The judge insisted she wouldn't deal with the surveillance row until another hearing on 27 July, while another court date was set for 16 March to tackle Rosengart's objections to attorney fees requested by lawyers acting for Britney''s mother, Lynne Spears.

The lawyers are also locked in a dispute as to whether or not the 'Circus' singer must foot the legal bills incurred by Jamie when he was in charge of her finances.

Another hearing needs to be scheduled to tackle issues with Britney's former business management company, Tri Star Sports and Entertainment, quashing subpoenas served by the singer's legal team, who accused the firm of 'stonewalling' attempts to obtain information on behalf of the pop star.

Britney has also been feuding with her younger sister Jamie Lynn, who used to be on the TV show Zoey 101. She slammed Jamie Lynn as 'f***ing hateful' and a 'selfish little brat' in a post.

The star - who regained control of her assets after the conservatorship governed by her family was terminated in November 2021 - took to Instagram to slam Jamie Lynn for saying her decision to buy their mother a house after she had made it big in the music industry was 'a f***ing weird thing to do.'

Britney wrote: 'You selfish little brat!!! Saying how weird and dumb it was that I had bought a house for Mamma !!! She was so proud and you told that interview girl that it was just weird … LIKE I GUESS I WILL JUST WALK IN THESE HALLS … Why did you say that ??? .'

Britney then went on to accuse Jamie Lynn of being 'f****** hateful towards their mother - who divorced from their father Jamie in 2002 - as she continued her tirade.

She said: 'My mouth was on the floor the way you talked back to Mamma when I came home … Shocked out of my lined !!!!!! You were f****ng hateful to her and I know Mamma had been lazy with me but I'm sorry you deserved WAY MORE than a purse knocked at you by Mamma … She should have WHIPPED YOUR A** …

'Poor Mamma took it too just like I did in the end. She worshipped you too much I know but if you came out of my stomach, I would have popped the s--t out of your little a**.'

Jamie Lynn then spoke up, saying Britney's lashings have caused her to get death threats.

The performer has been embroiled in a feud with her sister in recent weeks, which came about when Jamie Lynn was promoting her new book Things I Should Have Said' and accused told Nightline that Britney had 'locked [her] in a room with a knife', claim Britney has repeatedly denied.

She said: 'And why watching your at length interview … Really 2 HOURS or more ????? And the topic about the knife which is ironically the only lie you've ever told in your whole life … Why is that conversation 20 min ??? and the most degrading to me … OH BUT you don't want to keep talking about it because you don't want to HURT ANYBODY'S feelings …'