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Flight-tracking apps expose how celebrities and tech billionaires merely pay lip service to the “climate change emergency”, creating unnecessary emissions while criticising ordinary folk for not doing enough to stave off global warming.

Jack Sweeney, a 19-year-old computer programmer, has become the subject of ire among high-powered celebrities for tracking their use of private jets.

Sweeney, an Information Technology student at Central Florida University, made a big splash in February after Elon Musk messaged the teenager on Twitter asking him to take down a bot account tracking Musk’s flight time.

Musk offered Sweeney $5,000 to remove the account, writing,

“Can you take this down? It is a security risk […] I don’t love the idea of being shot by a nutcase.”

Sweeney refused and was subsequently blocked by the Space X pioneer, after asking, in jest, for $50,000 instead.

Jet-setters

The account goes by the name @ElonJet, and uploads information from ADS-B technology’s air traffic surveillance. ADS-B broadcasts ‘aircraft positions using signals that relatively simple equipment can pick up.’ (Breitbart)

Besides Musk, Sweeney’s dedicated bots are tracking Trump, Bill Gates, and one celebrity account (@CelebJets) which is dedicated to tracking celebrities, and their love affair with short trips, and private jets.

Sweeney’s CelebJets account gained notoriety in July after he advertised reality TV star Kylie Jenner’s 17-minute flight from Camarillo, California to Van Nuys, California.

Social media users accused the socialite of being a “climate criminal” for disregarding the “climate crisis.”

Other high-flying individuals included Taylor Swift, Tom Cruise, Mark Wahlberg, and ‘carbon hypocrites’ like Bill Gates, who, as an NBC op-ed pointed out, often ‘travel around the world speaking about climate change while racking up hundreds of thousands of air miles in their private jets.’

Public Knowledge

The use of the technology and the publication of its flight data is not illegal.

Speaking on podcast KONCRETE, Sweeney said that if somebody wanted to harm these celebrities, “they didn’t need him to do it.” Anyone can get access to the flight data.

According to Aviation International News,

‘ADS-B does not have any mechanism in place to prevent people with ADS-B receivers from identifying aircraft. This means anyone can purchase a receiver (often for less than $100) and then begin seeing information including aircraft ID, altitude, latitude, longitude, bearing, and speed.’

ADS-B ‘automatically transmits to a ground station and other air traffic its identity, precise location, altitude, velocity and other information.’ (CASA)

France 24 explained that in the ‘U.S. planes are required, in designated areas, to be equipped with ADS-B technology.’ The signal ADS-B emits is easy to follow.

Flightradar24, based in Sweden, is a good example of how the technology is interfaced for users.

The app, which has both a free and premium option, tracks flights, location, arrival, destination, and identification in real-time.

Another example is Arizona-based ADS-B Exchange, founded by flight enthusiast and IT professional, Dan Streufert.

Likewise, the more commercially oriented FlightAware aviation intelligence service provides helpful flight information for corporations and passengers.

One of the big differences between the three is that Flightradar24 and FlightAware block data in accordance with The Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed (LADD) program, whereas ADS-B Exchange reports movements up to, AirForce One, including NASA launches.

Sweeney’s creation was never intended to breach privacy, enable billionaire-shaming or compromise safety.

The university student explained to The Guardian that he didn’t see how providing an information service for people interested in what the rich and famous were doing was a bad thing.

Whatever derision Sweeney’s tracking bots have earned him from celebrities, their concerns are more likely to be about how ADS-B flight tracking tarnishes their carefully managed public image.

The technology exposes the rampant hypocrisy of big-name climate change catastrophisers, who would prefer their hypocrisy remain hidden from the public eye.

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Photo by Jeshoots.com.