Google's $10 million plan to buy Spirit's data and use it to train AI cleared one of its last big hurdles
After Spirit Airlines shut down in May, Google won the bid to pay $10 million for a trove of internal data, but privacy concerns have held it up.
Spirit Airlines ceased operations in May. After the shutdown, Google secured the right to purchase a massive data collection from the airline for $10 million. However, this sale faced delays in a bankruptcy court due to privacy concerns. Unions reached an agreement with Google and the issue was resolved, allowing the transaction to proceed.
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) and other unions reached a deal that would safeguard the personal data of former Spirit employees. The agreement, hailed as a "historic win for worker privacy protections," protected data covering employees' medical and disability history, drug or alcohol testing records, and payroll records.
Google's plan to acquire 500 million Microsoft Teams chats, 100 million emails, and other internal documents to improve its products and AI models was cleared after this hurdle. The deal's approval came after personal data of 97 million Spirit customers was excluded, as recommended by a court-appointed privacy ombudsman. Union members and public-interest groups expressed satisfaction with the outcome, vowing to push for similar protections across other employers.
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