The names and personal information of thousands of Chicago Public Schools students was inadvertently provided to five potential vendors earlier this year, district officials confirmed Tuesday.
Five companies submitting proposals to CPS were mistakenly provided with the information of 4,000 students. Social Security numbers were reportedly not included in the data.
The district said it became of the error on March 24 and reached out to the potential vendors.
Each of the five software companies are experienced and familiar with data privacy and protection and have confirmed with CPS this information was destroyed, the district said.
"CPS takes student privacy very seriously and we deeply regret these circumstances," said CPS' Bill McCaffrey. "To prevent future unauthorized disclosures, the District is training staff members on student information safeguards and the importance of maintaining student privacy."
