GAO Details 99 Data Breaches Affecting Students in 2016-2020

Thousands of K-12 students were affected by 99 reported data breaches July 2016 to May 2020, GAO said Thursday. Fifty-eight involved academic records, “including assessment scores and special education records,” GAO said. Data including personally identifiable information like Social Security numbers was in 36 breaches. Staff was responsible for 21 of 25 accidental breaches, and students for 27 of 52 intentional breaches, most often to change grades, with the remaining 22 of “unknown intent,” GAO said: “Reports of breaches by cybercriminals were rare but included attempts to steal PII.”