Mila Koumpilova reports: The Minnesota Department of Education improperly released the transcripts of 20 students at the online BlueSky Charter School in November, the department acknowledged Friday. The department uncovered the privacy breach this week while processing a new data request regarding the school, spokeswoman Charlene Briner said. Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, who took over the…
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Data Stewardship: Managing Personally Identifiable Information in Electronic Student Education Records
Data Stewardship: Managing Personally Identifiable Information in Electronic Student Education Records SLDS Technical Brief Guidance for Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) SLDS Technical BriefGuidance for Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) November 2010, Brief 2 NCES 2011-602 The growth of electronic student data in America’s education system has focused attention on the ways these data are…
Education sector most affected by malware
Angela Moscaritolo reports: During the first six months of 2010, academia was the sector most impacted by malware, according to a report issued Monday by anti-virus firm Trend Micro. The report, which covers cybercrime incidents from January to June, states that 44 percent of all malware infections hit schools and universities, which often have “complex, distributed…
Preventing Data Breaches: Lessons From Higher Education
Alex Rothacker writes: Since 2008, higher education institutions have experienced a staggering 158 data breaches resulting in over 2.3 million reported records compromised. In 2009 alone there were 57 reported data breaches, and year to date through July of 2010, there have already been 32 breaches. Considering that most breaches are not reported until well…
NJ: Social Security numbers, federal tax numbers released in error by Sparta Board of Education
Seth Augenstein reports: A local activist’s recent public records request resulted in some extra information — namely, some personal Social Security numbers, and some federal tax identification numbers. Jesse Wolosky, a well-known Sparta activist who recently lost a bid for a Township Council seat, put in a request for a list of vendors to the…
Crooks Steal $644,000 from NYC Department of Education
Michael Cheek reports: Hackers have defrauded the New York City’s Department of Education of more than $644,000 by targeting an online bank account used to manage petty cash expenditures, according to investigators. The Department of Education’s bank account with JPMorgan Chase was supposed to have a $500 limit but, due to an oversight, any amount…