Consumers Affected
880,000
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against PowerSchool, a provider of cloud-based services for K-12 schools, following a data breach that exposed the personal and health information of over 880,000 Texas school-aged children and teachers. The breach occurred in December 2024 when a hacker gained administrative access through a subcontractor's account and stole unencrypted data including Social Security numbers, medical details, and disability records. The lawsuit alleges PowerSchool violated Texas law by failing to implement basic security measures and by misleading customers about its security practices.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor agreements with education technology providers, particularly those handling student, children’s, or employee data, to ensure they include explicit requirements for multi-factor authentication, adequate access controls, and data encryption for all sensitive data. Contracts should also mandate compliance with applicable state privacy laws, require vendors to accurately represent their security standards without deceptive marketing claims, and include clear breach notification timelines and subcontractor security obligations. Additionally, teams should verify that vendors are contractually required to adhere to security best practices for protecting health information and student records, and that remedies for security failures are clearly outlined.
Entity
PowerSchool
Industry
Technology"PowerSchool"
"Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act"
"Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act"
"unprecedented data breach exposed the sensitive personal identifying information and protected health information of more than 880,000 Texas school-aged children and teachers"
"failed to implement even the most basic security features, including multi-factor authentication, adequate access controls, and proper data encryption"
"provider of cloud-based services for K-12 schools"
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