Lawmakers Oppose Google Purchase of Spirit Airlines Data

More than 120 US lawmakers, led by Elizabeth Warren and Representative Steven Horsford, are challenging a $10 million deal for Google to acquire internal data from the defunct Spirit Airlines. Google won an August auction for the carrier's operational data, including spreadsheets and calendars, to train artificial intelligence systems. Lawmakers warn the dataset contains 100 million emails and 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, arguing that the sale must exclude employee information to protect worker privacy.

Google has stated it is not seeking personal information and maintains that data will be either excluded or de-identified by an independent third party before the company receives it. The company also noted it is working constructively with an appointed privacy ombudsman.

Spirit Airlines halted operations in May and received a competing $7.5 million bid for the data from AI company Mercor. A privacy ombudsman has recommended that a bankruptcy judge approve the Google deal at an October 14 hearing, provided that passenger data for 97 million customers is excluded from the transaction.