Process
How personal details were stripped in reported data sales
Before any buyer uses a company archive, names and personal details are removed. Lawyers call this de-identification.
For Spirit Airlines, a declaration filed once the auction ended said the de-identification approach and related privacy issues could settle the result. Who performs the scrubbing can weigh as much as the bid.
In this guide
01
Three bidders, three methods
Google
Method
Tonic.ai strips personal details and certifies to the court before each transfer
Price
$10.0M winning bid
Mercor
Method
Bid $5.2M with a third party, $7.0M with its own tools, $10.0M if done in-house
Price
$7.5M alternate
micro1
Method
In-house at its own cost, 1% sample to an independent reviewer, US storage, raw employment records destroyed
Price
$12.5M late offer
| Bidder | Method | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Tonic.ai strips personal details and certifies to the court before each transfer | $10.0M winning bid | |
| Mercor | Bid $5.2M with a third party, $7.0M with its own tools, $10.0M if done in-house | $7.5M alternate |
| micro1 | In-house at its own cost, 1% sample to an independent reviewer, US storage, raw employment records destroyed | $12.5M late offer |
Mercor's ladder is the clearest signal: the same archive drew bids nearly $5M apart depending on who did the scrubbing.
02
What the ombudsman asked for
The ombudsman's first report grouped her conditions into five areas: certified de-identification, transparency, safeguards for children and teens, a bar on re-identification, and security for the AI training setup. Her final recommendation hinged on Tonic.ai certifying the data ahead of every transfer.
She noted that employee and third-party risks were outside her review. See the consumer privacy ombudsman.
03
How buyers outside court describe it
SimpleClosure says every dataset is processed for personal details before licensing, including sensitive information and credentials. Grepped publishes a security page describing its process. Other buyers strip data in-house and let you review a sample.
04
Questions to ask any buyer
- Who removes personal details, and with what tools?
- Does an independent party check the work?
- Can we review a sample before transfer?
- Does the contract ban re-identification?
- Are employee and health records excluded outright?
- Where is raw data stored, and when is it destroyed?
FAQ
Questions, answered
Who stripped personal details in the Spirit sale?
Under the ombudsman's recommendation, Tonic.ai does it for Google's purchase and certifies each transfer to the court.
Does the method change the price?
In Spirit's case it did. Mercor bid $5.2M, $7.0M or $10.0M depending on who did the work.
Is de-identified data still personal information?
It depends on the law and how well it is done. Ask your counsel, and require a re-identification ban in the contract.
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Keep reading
Sources
Every number on this page links back to one of these.
- 1Chapter11Cases (Stretto): docket report on the Spirit Airlines de-identified data salechapter11cases.com
- 2The Next Web: ombudsman backs Google's purchase of Spirit Airlines datathenextweb.com
- 3Fortune: micro1 tries to beat Google's bid for Spirit Airlines data (14 Sep 2026)fortune.com
- 4SimpleClosure: AssetHubsimpleclosure.com
- 5Grepped: securitygrepped.ai
- 611 U.S.C. § 332: consumer privacy ombudsman (Cornell LII)law.cornell.edu
- 7Frankfurt Kurnit: selling company data for AI training, what to know before you say yestechnologylaw.fkks.com
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