The state of Texas is taking a stand against PowerSchool, a tech company specialized in educational software, following a severe data breach. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the California-based firm for failing to secure the personal and health information of more than 880,000 students and teachers, as reported by Texas Attorney General's Office. PowerSchool, which offers cloud services to K-12 schools, is accused of not implementing crucial security measures, thus failing to live up to its marketing promises of "state-of-the-art protections."
According to the allegations, in December 2024, a hacker exploited a subcontractor's account and obtained administrative privileges, which allowed them to transfer vast quantities of unencrypted sensitive data to an external server. Among the data compromised were names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and detailed medical and educational information. "Parents should never have to worry that the information they provide to enroll their children in school could be stolen and misused," Paxton stated, as obtained by the press release. The lawsuit alleges that PowerSchool's security gaps are a violation of both the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act.
PowerSchool's marketed claims of high security standards are at the heart of the issue, with Paxton's office asserting that the company failed to install elementary security features like multi-factor authentication, adequate access controls, and proper data encryption. The legal action seeks to hold PowerSchool accountable for potentially endangering the privacy and safety of Texas students, teachers, and their families by exposing them to risks of theft and misuse of their personal information.
"If Big Tech thinks they can profit off managing children’s data while cutting corners on security, they are dead wrong," Paxton emphasized as per Texas Attorney General's Office, signaling a commitment to combat what is seen as negligence on the part of PowerSchool. He vows that his office will exert full effort to protect the state's residents from this kind of corporate oversight.
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