31 Alberta schools affected by cyberattack on school software: privacy commissioner

Court documents allege PowerSchool, a company that manages a student information system, violated the trust of users and did not adequately protect their information. (File)

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) says 31 Alberta schools have now reported data breaches related to a cybersecurity attack on PowerSchool, a school administration system.

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Between Dec. 22 and 28, the U.S.-based company experienced unauthorized access to user information through one of its customer support portals. The breach impacted schools in Alberta, Manitoba, the Maritimes the U.S.

The OIPC said the data compromised in Alberta schools included information on students' names, phone numbers, birth dates and gender, as well as information on students' medical conditions, personal health care numbers, physician contact and guardian information.

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“I take the privacy rights of Albertans, and in particular children, very seriously,” said Information and Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod.

“We are in the beginning stages of our review of these breach notices and will be working with the affected educational institutions to mitigate the risks to those affected by the breach.

“We are reviewing the breach notices as they come in to determine the total number of Albertans affected, but it is clear that it is a significant number, including many students. I am also working with my counterparts throughout Canada to address this breach.”

Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne has launched a formal investigation into the data breach. He said PowerSchool is notifying affected Canadians and will be offering credit monitoring and identity protection services.

Impacted families should contact their school with any questions. More information on Alberta’s privacy laws can be found on the OIPC website.

With files from the Canadian Press