Congress seeks limits on Spirit data sale to Google

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, and more than 100 members of Congress are demanding new privacy protections for former Spirit Airlines employees. The group opposes the sale of internal business data to Google, which won an auction for the records for $10 million. The transaction is part of Spirit’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

The dataset includes 100 million emails and 500 million workplace messages. It also contains spreadsheets and calendars. Google stated that the data will help improve its products and AI models. The union argues that the workforce was not responsible for the airline’s financial collapse and should not face privacy risks because of it.

Nelson noted that the AI industry remains unregulated and lacks specific protections for employees. She warned that removing names from files does not guarantee anonymity. Data security experts advise that re-identifying individuals is easy when the sale includes connected workflows. This allows researchers to trace sensitive information back to specific workers.

"AI is a fast-growing industry that is completely unregulated. So, as we started delving into this issue, we found that there were no protections on the books for employees," Nelson said. "And this is really only data that became valuable in the age of AI in order to train models to replace jobs and commodify other portions of working in a work environment. And our members should not be on the tip of the spear of that."

In a letter to Google and Spirit, the lawmakers warned that de-identified information can be re-identified. They requested that payroll records, timecards, and specific employee communications be excluded from the sale. The group also asked for limits on how Google can use the acquired data. Spirit representatives declined an on-camera interview.

A Spirit spokesperson said the company cannot explain why Google wants the dataset. The company referred questions about the data’s potential use to Google. Google provided a statement saying it is acquiring part of an enterprise dataset. The company stated it is not buying personal information. Google added that the information will be excluded or de-identified by an independent third party before transfer.

"We’re acquiring part of an enterprise dataset from Spirit Airlines which can help improve our products and AI models. Google is not buying any personal information from Spirit. The information will either be completely excluded or will be deidentified by an independent third party before Google receives the data," the statement read.