Many parents were alerted this week that PowerSchool had experienced a data breach.
PowerSchool is a tech software that - according to some letters from superintendents to parents - is used in 9 out of every 10 Connecticut schools.
In some cases, students’ social security numbers were stolen in the breach.
Cyber security experts recommend safeguarding your children’s information now before it’s too late.
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James E. Lee, the president of the Identity Theft Resource Center, says if you got a letter warning that your child’s sensitive personal information was stolen, first and most important: freeze your child’s credit.
Doing so is a different process than freezing your credit as an adult.
In the case of your child, you need to create a credit report for your kiddo that doesn’t exist.
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It sounds overwhelming, but it’s important.
Lee says, “If we’re talking about an elementary-age student, they may be graduating high school, getting ready to go to college before you ever find out that someone has misappropriated their identity information. And you find out when you’re applying for college student loans when you’re applying for a job, that’s the first time you find out that you have ten years of work history that you’ve had since you were 4 or 5 years old.”
Security freezes are free, but they must be placed separately with each of the three nationwide credit bureaus.
Each bureau has slightly different requirements, but parents will need to physically mail in their requests with documentation verifying their identity and their child's identity too.
Once the paperwork has been sent, parents should receive confirmation that the security freeze has been put in place.
The credit freeze will remain until the child turns 16.
To start this process, visit Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
Those impacted should also make sure to change their PowerSchool password.
