Elon Musk Donald Trump Taylor Swift et others try to avoid jet-tracking

Elon Musk and the Gulfstream G650ER. Patrick Pleul/picture Alliance/Getty Images/Courty of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
Twitter banned many accounts that track private aircrafts, including Elon Musk’s. These accounts displayed the travel plans of stars like Musk, Donald Trump, Taylor Swift.



Jack Sweeney, Elon MuskJack Sweeney, and Getty

Twitter removed the Twitter accounts that tracked Elon Musk’s and Mark Zuckerberg jets

Sweeney shares the jet-tracking data on many other social media sites including Instagram and Facebook.



@elonmusksjet on InstagramInstagram

This is how you can track Elon Musk’s private plane’s location after Twitter banned @ElonJet’s account by a student who had been following the aircraft

Celebrities like Musk and Zuckerberg have had a difficult year trying to get rid of their jet-tracking accounts, which track every move on their private planes.



Mark Zuckerberg (left) and Elon Musk.Kevin Dietsch/Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images

Elon Musk claims that social media accounts that track his travels are becoming a security threat.

Sweeney, a jet-tracking wunderkind, helped to ignite the trend in 2022 when he became famous for publicly tracking Musk’s Gulfstream 650ER.



Jack Sweeney in Orlando at the NBAA conference, mid-October.Jack Sweeney

Elon Musk now owns a luxurious Gulfstream private jet.

A public website called ADSB Exchange was created in 2016 by IT professional Dan Streufert. It allows students to track tail numbers and automatically uploads flights to their social media accounts.



Floyd Mayweather’s plane landed in Las Vegas on October 31. ADS-B Exchange via twitter

Source: ADSB ExchangeTwitter

According to Streufert, the website aggregates flight information using the assistance of more than 7,500 volunteer-run radios in the world that receive information via ADS-B equipped aircraft.



The cockpit of G280.Abby Wallace/Insider.

Source: LinkedIn, Airplane Geeks

Federal Aviation Administration states that ADS-B transmits information such as GPS location, altitude and ground speed from one aircraft to ground stations and other aircraft. This happens one per second.



Ulrich Zillmann/Getty Images

Source: FAA

All operators must equip their aircraft with ADS-B technology in order to fly in controlled airspace. According to the FAA, this will improve safety and efficiency, especially in high-traffic airports such as New York and Miami.



The FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center, (ATCSCC)

Source: FAA

Sweeney’s tracking is legal because ADS-B Exchange is public data, per Streufert.



Note pinned to Sweeney’s @ElonJet Twitter page. Jack Sweney/Twitter

The teenager who famously tracked Elon Musk’s plane has a new target: Russian oligarchs’ jets and yachts.

Musk offered Sweeney $5,000 in January to close the jet-tracking account. But Sweeney demanded $50,000. Musk promised to think about it, but he never followed up.



Chesnot/Getty Images

Report says Elon Musk offered to pay a 19-year old $5,000 to shut down a Twitter account that tracked his private jet.

The @ElonJet Twitter account had almost 500,000 followers before it was suspended.



Elon Musk owns a Gulfstream G650ER private plane (not the one pictured). Courtesy of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation

Source: Twitter

Sweeney even agreed to a June deal that Mark Cuban made with Sweeney. He would receive a lifetime worth of business advice and he would stop following his travels on Twitter.



John Lamparski/Getty Images

After Elon Musk offered business advice, the teen who was tracking Elon Musk’s plane agreed to cease monitoring Mark Cuban on Twitter.

Sweeney’s many other jet-tracking accounts, such as @TrumpJets which had approximately 10,000 followers before Wednesday’s suspension, have been popular since he was in the news.



Trump in his Boeing 757 private plane. Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images

Source: TwitterTrump. After a year of maintenance and a new paint job, the beloved Boeing 757 private plane is now flying again

…and @ZuccJet with approximately 16,000 followers…



Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Source: Twitter

…and @CelebrityJets with nearly 125,000 followers. This tracker tracks high-profile celebrities like Floyd Mayweather, Blake Shelton and Mark Wahlberg.



Mark Wahlberg’s Bombardier Global Express jet. Honeywell

Source: Twitter

Sweeney claims he does not make any money from the accounts but he says that Stratos Jet Charters has offered him a job. He is currently a sophomore at Central Florida and studies computer science.



Jack Sweeney

The viral story about the 19-year old who refused $5,000 from Elon Musk in order to stop tracking his private plane has resulted in a job offer.

Musk expressed concern about ElonJet’s popularity, pointing out that it could be a security risk.



Elon Musk and a Gulfstream G550. Two G550s are used mainly for SpaceX and Tesla employees, according to Sweeney.

Source: TwitterJack SweeneyTeen, who refused $5,000 from Elon Musk in order to close down a Twitter account that tracks the billionaire’s jet said he doesn’t get enough work satisfaction to settle with less than $50,000

These accounts have created PR problems for stars like Taylor Swift or Kylie Jenner who are accused of taking hundreds of flights each year and emitting thousands upon thousands of tons CO2.



Taylor Swift attends 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

As people mock Taylor Swift’s response to the carbon emission controversy, memes and jokes about her private jet are dominating the internet.

It’s no surprise that celebrities try to avoid jet trackers, but it isn’t easy.



Taylor Swift has a Dassault Falcon900 (interior image pictured). Courtesy of Dassault Aviation.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are looking for new ways to avoid jet-tracking Twitter accounts. But it’s not the’silver bullet.

Federal Aviation Administration created “Limiting Aircraft Data Dispared,” or LADD, a program. Websites like FlightAware or FlightRadar24 won’t display LADD-registered aircraft because they use FAA data.



Celebrities are being criticized over their private jet usage.JethuynhCan/Getty Images

Source:FAA

For example, if someone searches for Trump’s 757 tailnum — N757AF — in FlightAware, it will say that the plane is “not available for public tracking per owner/operator request.”



FlightAware

Source: FlightAware

Trump joined Travis Scott, Drake and Steven Spielberg in signing up for the program to avoid Sweeney’s tracking accounts.



Drake.Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock

Source: Twitter

Sweeney even created a “LADD List”, which houses all the tail numbers that have signed up, according to his estimates.



Drake’s private Boeing 767 Boeing 767 jet, nicknamed “Air Drake”, is on the LADD List.Laurent Thomet/AFP via Getty Images

Source: Jack Sweeney

Although this may seem like a reliable way for you to not be tracked, Sweeney is actually thwarting them by using ASD/B Exchange. This website doesn’t use FAA data so it can display any flight, regardless of whether it is on the LADD or not.



Puma/Jay Z’s aircraft tracked on ADS–B Exchange with LADD indicator.ADS–B Exchange
According to an interview with the AFP, Streufert, the ADS-B Exchange’s administrator, said that it was compiled from “all public data.” He told the AFP that “we have not removed any so far.” “And I don’t want to be an arbiter who’s right or wrong.”



FlyExclusive

Source: AFP

Unfortunately, LADD won’t work for private jet owners. However, they have another FAA program that is free and more secure.



Inside a King Air 35i.Taylor Rains/Insider
This program is known as the “privacy ICAO airplane address program” or PIA. This allows individuals to replace their tail number with a temporary one that is not assigned to any other aircraft. It allows them to fly incognito.



Kevin Kurek/picture alliance via Getty Images
Musk and Trump are among the many celebrities who have enrolled in PIA. In October, the FAA stated that more than 300 PIAs had been issued since December 2019, when it was launched.



Trump’s Boeing 757 private plane gets a new paint job. MediaPost, LLC, Landlocked Aviation

After the man who followed his plane didn’t shut down his Twitter account, it appears that Elon Musk has started using a program that blocks jet tracking.

Musk sought out advice from Sweeney about how to avoid being tracked. Sweeney suggested that PIA be used, as seen in the Twitter DM exchange Sweeney shared on Insider.



Direct message exchange between Elon Musk & Jack Sweeney. Jack Sweeney
However, even though you have PIA, you can still follow the planes: “These privacy mitigation programmes are effective for real time operations, but they do not guarantee absolute privacy,” Insider was told by the FAA.



ADS-B Exchange offers a “PIA filter” that displays all aircraft currently flying with it.
Musk flew from Texas and California on May 7. ADS-B Exchange didn’t display the true tail number. However, it flagged it as PIA. It was uploaded to @ElonJet via Sweeney’s bot.



Jack Sweeney tracked Elon Musk’s private flight with PIA flag. Jack Sweeney via ADS–B Exchange

Source: Twitter

Insider was also informed by the FAA that LiveATC and frequently departed airports could be used to identify PIA aircrafts through a Freedom of Information Act request.



LiveATC allows anyone to tap into the conversations between air traffic control and aircraft.eyfoto/Getty Images

Source: Live ATC

Sweeney explained to Insider that Elon Musk has a Gulfstream, and that there are only so many people who fly that plane out of Brownsville in Texas and go to the same airports.



Inside a typical G650ER (not Elon Musk’s).Taylor Rains/Insider
The FAA’s privacy programs are not perfect. This is why some big business names and celebrities have decided to give up private jet ownership.



The Bombardier Global 7500 private jet is the largest ever built.
Bernard Arnault (LVMH CEO), who oversees Louis Vuitton and other luxury brands, sold his Bombardier Global7500 in September to Bloomberg. He stated that “no one can view where I go because when I rent private planes, no one can see”.



Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, at board his private plane between Beijing and Shanghai. Shanghai, China, October 11, 2004, Marc DEVILLE/Gamma Rapho via Getty Images

After people began tracking his private plane on Twitter, Louis Vuitton CEO became the 2nd richest man in the world.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been using private planes to rent since 2017, citing security and efficiency concerns.



Cook at Code 2022.Jerod Harris/Getty Images Vox Media

Apple board tells Tim Cook that he must fly private from now on “in the interest of security and efficiency”.

In the meantime, Meta changed Zuckerberg’s private plane earlier in the year. Sweeney had to search for the plane’s new tailnum again, just months after Sweeney started sharing his travel experiences with Facebook founders on Twitter.



Zuckerberg’s new plane is a G650ER. (His exact plane has not been pictured). Taylor Rains/Insider

A teenager who follows Elon Musk’s plane claims he has discovered Mark Zuckerberg’s new aircraft

Business Insider has the original article.
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By: trains@insider.com (Taylor Rains,Grace Kay)
Title: How Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, and others are trying to dodge jet tracking
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/how-celebrities-like-elon-musk-taylor-swift-dodge-jet-tracking-2022-11
Published Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2022 14:13:00 +0000