Class Action Accuses PowerSchool of ‘Extreme Invasion’ of Student Privacy Via Naviance Platform

Q.J. et al. v. PowerSchool Holdings LLC et al.

A proposed class action alleges education-tech company PowerSchool Holdings and several others have caused millions of students nationwide to hand over their data without their knowledge or consent through the Naviance online platform, which is allegedly rife with third-party codes used to intercept, track and disclose student data. 

The 70-page complaint alleges PowerSchool, data analytics firm Heap and software provider Hobsons have “surreptitiously intercepted, monitored, captured and recorded” the actions, interactions and communications of students using the Naviance platform “without probable cause or reasonable suspicion,” in violation of the United States Constitution.

Further, the suit alleges the Chicago Board of Education, on a local level, has “let the students down” and breached its privacy responsibilities by capturing and disseminating their data, including sensitive school records, without consent. 

“While Defendants PowerSchool Holdings and Hobsons have long claimed in various different ways that they value students’ privacy, that is not, and has not been, the case.” 

According to the case, more than 80 percent of all K-12 students in the United States and Canada use PowerSchool products such as Naviance. Per the suit, PowerSchool serves more than 90 of the top 100 school districts by enrollment nationwide, with the Naviance platform touted as the leading program to equip students of all ages with necessary career and life readiness skills...

Class Action Accuses PowerSchool of ‘Extreme Invasion’ of Student Privacy Via Naviance Platform