Alex Friedrich reports: About two dozen University of Minnesota faculty members have told administrators they suspect someone has committed tax fraud using their personal information. Two professors say they and other colleagues were unable to file federal taxes online, because the Internal Revenue Service website told them someone had already filed in their names. The…
Category: Education Sector
MS: State alerts school district that it’s exposing personal and sensitive student information
Kate Royals The Mississippi Department of Education is asking the Tunica County School District to alert parents and other community members after its students’ personal information was posted on the website. The information included social security numbers, medical and discipline data, Detention/Suspension Roster Summaries, Mississippi Student Information System numbers, disability status and more, according to…
Wyoming seeks to safeguard student info
Trevor Brown reports: After hearing a report that identified numerous security lapses, Wyoming lawmakers are considering a bill that would require school districts to better protect students’ personal information. A legislative committee was briefed Tuesday on a recent state Department of Audit report that found 42 of the state’s 48 school districts had issues related…
Bits ‘n Pieces
Recaps of a few more breach reports I recently read: Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School in New Hampshire joined the ranks of those who have made email attachment errors that exposed employee information to other employees and staff. Information in the spreadsheet included information on current and former employees: names, gender, Social Security numbers, benefit…
Schools official mistakenly leaks student data in PowerPoint document
Donna St. George reports: When the chief technology officer for Montgomery County schools gave a talk at a conference in Missouri a few years ago, he used a PowerPoint presentation that mistakenly included the names and photos of 16 Bethesda kindergartners, along with phone numbers. It also listed the names, student identification numbers and reading…
St. Martin Parish School Based Health Centers breach
As I’ve often noted on PogoWasRight.org, student health records are generally covered under FERPA, not HIPAA. When a school district provides a health center, however, the student’s health records may be covered by HIPAA, as seems to be the case with the St. Martin Parish School Based Health Centers in Louisiana. They notified HHS last…