Jack Sweeney, the Florida college student who rose to Internet fame by tracking the private jets of billionaires like Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is now following the movements of planes owned by Russian oligarchs.
The 19-year-old Sweeney tracks private flights, publishing movements in real-time by circumventing data from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration that enables jet owners to block such tracking.
It’s something that the industry is trying to stop.
This morning the National Business Aviation Association announced it is working with the Federal Aviation Association towards improvements in the Privacy ICAO Address program or PIA that would prevent workarounds.
Since trackers like Sweeney don’t use their data, the FAA previously said stopping the tracking websites were outside its scope of authority.
Sweeney first drew attention when he released online messages with Musk where the Tesla boss offered him $5,000 to stop, citing safety concerns. “Can you take this down? It is a security risk,” he wrote in one message.
The college student countered, asking for $50,000 and a car. The billionaire Tesla founder apparently cut off the dialogue, saying, “It doesn’t feel right to pay to shut this down.”
Industry officials agree with Musk. At the time, a spokesperson for NBAA told Forbes, “The real-time tracking and online broadcasting of business aviation flights—by anyone, anywhere in the world, with any motive—raises many serious concerns, including with regard to passenger security, safety and corporate espionage. These concerns have been repeatedly reflected in bipartisan congressional legislation requiring the FAA to provide an opt-out from real-time flight tracking.”
One lawyer says Sweeney could be open to civil liability if a person uses his data to commit a criminal act. Sanctions against Russia are expected to mean jet owners will be defaulting on lease and loan payments. Will Sweeney’s newest initiative assist in repossessing their jets?
David Hernandez, a partner at Vedder Price and a former FAA and DOT attorney, doesn’t believe Sweeney’s initiative to track Oligarchs is more than a PR ploy. While banks may end up repossessing private jets owned by Russians, he says, they won’t need help from hacker sites.
“Lenders have some very sophisticated tracking capabilities,” he says, adding bank agreements with clients typically allow tracking their jets even if they have been blocked to the general public.
Sweeney previously said he is making money from his sites through advertising and merchandise sales. However, he may soon need to find a new income source. While NBAA said it is working with the FAA to close loopholes, a consultant who asked not to be identified because his firm works with a company whose jets are being targeted says there will likely be a lobbying effort to make publishing real-time data illegal, regardless of how it’s compiled.
An analogy would be that it is illegal to point lasers at airplanes as it creates a safety issue. Industry executives say it’s not just the safety of billionaires, but staff who work at airports and private aviation facilities.
