‘Adding insult to injury’: Flight attendants accuse Google of creepy deal to access ‘confidential’ data for AI in Spirit Airlines transaction

Google's acquisition of a large collection of Spirit Airlines' internal data for $10 million has sparked controversy among flight attendants. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA has filed an objection in US Bankruptcy Court, arguing that the privacy protections in place for the deal are insufficient to safeguard sensitive employee information.

The flight attendants contend that employee data is far more confidential than customer data and should receive more robust protection. Spirit Airlines, a prominent low-cost airline, is selling off its remaining assets, including both physical and digital properties, after its bankruptcy. The dispute adds complexity to Google's plan to leverage the bankrupt airline's remains to bolster its AI initiatives.

Google secured the auction by offering $10 million, surpassing the bid of AI recruiting company Mercor, which put in $7.5 million. The transaction encompasses approximately 100 million emails and 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, along with spreadsheets, calendars, software code, and other internal business records. Google has dismissed the data risk and stated that it has reviewed the union's objection.

The company claims that no personal identifying information will be included in the data obtained from Google and any data received will be de-identified by a third party before being handed over. Google's sale filing mentions data protections for consumer data, but not employee confidentiality. However, the union remains unconvinced, asserting that the auction filing does not clarify whether the data is confidential.

The union has also raised concerns about the "deidentification" process, fearing that it may still maintain referential integrity across the data set, potentially exposing confidential records. Despite these concerns, the union has not ruled out supporting the sale as long as all identifying information is removed.