student data

ETS California Student Data Breach: Disability, 504 and Test Data Copied, and What Families Should Do

Educational Testing Service (ETS), the nonprofit that runs California's statewide assessments (CAASPP and ELPAC) under contract with the State, began notifying students and families on October 16, 2026, at the direction of the California Department of Education (CDE). According to ETS's Notice of Data Breach, an unauthorized party used a compromised login credential at various times from May 22 to September 18, 2026 to access an ETS SFTP site used to exchange assessment information with CDE and copy files containing student information. ETS identified the activity on September 25. The notice says information about California students, including but not limited to all students enrolled in the three previous school years, was accessed and copied. Items vary by student but may include name, date of birth, address, school and grade, student identifiers, gender, race or ethnicity, language and country of origin, disability and Section 504 status, testing accommodations and primary disability type, program eligibility, and test results. Social Security numbers, financial account and card data, passwords and parent or guardian information were not involved, ETS says. No count has been published. ETS offers two years of Experian IdentityWorks at no cost. This site's take: families of current and former California public school students should treat the notice as applying to them, enroll using the code in their letter, and not trust calls or messages just because they mention the child's school or tests.