Key Points
- Google still pays $10 million for Spirit’s data, and now also pays the cost of deidentifying it, with Tonic AI scrubbing personal information before transfer.
- Employee medical examinations, payroll records, drug testing, crew pairings, biometrics, and union grievance filings are excluded, and Google must publicly commit not to knowingly reidentify the data.
- The haul includes 1.9 billion internal emails, 664 million Teams items, 91 million SharePoint/OneDrive files, 30 million lines of code, plus booking curve, vacation package, and airfare data. A hearing is set for November 17.
Summary
Spirit Airlines and Google have revised the terms of a proposed $10 million data sale after unions objected that the original deal protected customers but not employees. Under the new terms disclosed in a 157-page court filing released Monday night, Google still pays $10 million and now also covers the cost of deidentifying the data, which software company Tonic AI will scrub of personal information tied to employees or customers before transfer. Google is set to receive roughly 1.9 billion internal emails across 91,000 accounts, 664 million Microsoft Teams items, 91 million SharePoint/OneDrive files, about 30 million lines of code, and commercial data including Spirit’s booking curve, vacation package data, and airfare data, which Google plans to use to enhance its AI models. Sensitive employee information covering medical examinations, payroll, drug testing, crew pairings, biometrics, and union grievance filings is excluded, and Google must publicly commit not to intentionally or knowingly reidentify the data. Spirit can still sell its customer data list to other third parties in the hospitality, travel, or leisure industries. A hearing on the sale is scheduled for November 17.
Source: skift.com
