More than 100 members of Congress have urged Google and Spirit Airlines to halt a proposed $10 million deal that would transfer Spirit's internal data to Google for the purpose of training artificial intelligence models. The lawmakers expressed significant concerns that even with de-identification safeguards, the data could still expose sensitive employee information.
The proposed data transfer, which is part of a $10 million payment from Google to the defunct airline, reportedly includes a vast array of internal records. According to a press release from Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), the dataset encompasses approximately 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, employment contracts, employee and timecard records, and payroll and tax information.
While Google has stated its intention to de-identify the data and has indicated that a third party would scrub the information before transfer, 114 federal lawmakers, led by Rep. Horsford and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), contend that conventional de-identification methods may not adequately protect privacy in the context of modern AI. Their letter to the CEOs of both companies highlighted that simply removing direct identifiers like names or email addresses does not guarantee anonymity.
The lawmakers' concerns are particularly acute given the recent job losses at Spirit Airlines. Nearly 1,000 individuals in Las Vegas, a city partially within Rep. Horsford's district, lost their jobs after Spirit announced its shutdown plans in May.
Should Google and Spirit Airlines proceed with the agreement, the congressional letter recommends several additional protective measures. These include establishing a data de-identification process that incorporates feedback from former employees, minimizing the amount of employee information transferred, imposing strict limits on how the data can be utilized, and conducting an independent review of employee confidentiality.
Google has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the congressional letter. Spirit Airlines, being defunct, could not be reached for comment.
