Educational Testing Service is a nonprofit assessment organization under contract with the State of California to provide state and federally required testing to all students enrolled in California public schools. ETS reported a data breach on September 25 involving a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) site used to exchange California statewide assessment information with CDE.
CDE updated its ETS Incident page in late October and includes the following information:
- ETS, following regular web monitoring, has, to date, not uncovered any evidence that the information from the breach has been made public.
- Information about California students, including but not limited to all students enrolled in the three previous school years, was accessed and copied. The student information accessed and copied varies by individual, but may include: Student names, dates of birth, residential addresses, schools, districts, and grade levels; the Statewide Student Identifier (SSID) and local student identifier; and demographic information, including gender, race or ethnicity, primary language, country of origin, and English learner status.
- The data accessed and copied did not include Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, financial account information, credit or debit card information, or account passwords. The incident did not involve parent or guardian personal information.
- ETS, at the direction of CDE, is notifying affected students and families whose information was accessed and copied during the incident. If you receive a notification letter and/or email about the incident, this means your and/or your student’s information was included in the files accessed and copied.
Visit the incident page (linked above) for periodic updates.
