Most data breaches are caused by human error, and this is no different. A California school district apparently gave a parent the personal information of 36,000 students.
The Poway Unified School District released to one parent in the district sensitive personal information about more than 36,000 children, in response to a public-records request.
The release was a mistake, as the parent asked for information about records containing her own name, and the district gave her much broader data sets containing the information about herself and others.
The data included children's names, nicknames, addresses, phone numbers, hearing and vision exam results, dates of birth, language fluency, academic test results and occupation of parents, according to the woman who received the data, Gabriela Dow.
District officials confirmed the mistake in a statement to parents Monday afternoon, amid questions from The San Diego Union-Tribune.
"The information released did not include Social Security numbers," the statement said. "However, it included directory information and district-based test scores, some of which are protected information under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act."