The teen who tracks Elon Musk's jet is now after Putin and Russian tycoons

This account has every right to post jet whereabouts, ADS-B data is public, every aircraft in the world is required to have a transponder, Even AF1 (@AirForceTrack) Twitter policy states data found on other sites is allowed to be shared here as well. pic.twitter.com/Wol8O1DRiq

— Elon Musk's Jet (@ElonJet) January 18, 2022

Now, the 19-year-old is using the same method to track jets of Russian tycoons. The Twitter account @RUOligarchJets has over 93,000 followers and has tweeted about planes and helicopters of billionaires like Roman Abramovich, Alisher Usmanov, and Alexander Abramov to name a few, while a separate account called @PutinJet is tracking jets of Vladimir Putin and other VIPs in Russia.

However, Sweeney does not expect the latter account to work very accurately since the mandatory Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) coverage, where Sweeney gets his data from isn't great in Russia, Sweeney tweeted.

Russians on the radar

Speaking to Bloomberg, Sweeney said that he decided to start these accounts since he received multiple requests from the public to do so and he has relied on a list of planes from a blog called Radar Spots for this account. According to Sweeney, Russian tycoons move around in massive jets such as Boeing 737 and Airbus 319 that commercial airlines usually prefer.

Since these tycoons also own multiple aircraft, it is rather difficult to exactly trace their location at a given time using details from Sweeney's account. An aircraft landing in London does not mean that the owner was also onboard. So, it isn't necessarily the invasion of privacy the way Musk sees it.

Nevertheless, Russian tycoons must surely be cursing Musk for not giving the boy a car and nipping this in the bud. The account and its posts will surely keep them in the news at a time when they wish for the least amount of spotlight on them.