Illuminate Education
Disclosed Dec 1, 20259 months ago10,100,000 affectedSettled
Hacker used ex-employee's credentials to access data of 10.1M students; FTC order
In late December 2021 a hacker used the credentials of an employee who had left Illuminate three and a half years earlier to breach its cloud databases, reaching emails, addresses, birth dates, student records and health data of 10.1 million students. The FTC's order requires a security program and deletion of unneeded data.
What is known
| People affected | 10,100,000 (as reported by the organization) |
|---|---|
| Disclosed | Dec 1, 2025 |
| Attack | Hacking |
| Data exposed | Children's data, Emails, Addresses, Dates of birth, Education records, Health |
| Sector | Education · US |
| Status | Settled |
| Lawsuit or fine | USD 5.1M NY/CA/CT AG settlements (Nov 2025); FTC consent order (finalized June 2026) (about $5.1M) |
Sources
| Source | |
|---|---|
| NY AG: USD 5.1 Million from education software companyag.ny.gov · Regulator | Regulator |
| FTC Takes Action Against Education Technology Provider for Failing to Secure Students' Personal Dataftc.gov · Regulator | Regulator |
| FTC Gives Final Approval to Order Against Illuminateftc.gov · Regulator | Regulator |
Notices filed
| Where | Filed | People |
|---|---|---|
| Researchtotal | Dec 1, 2025 | 10,100,000 |
Other breaches at Illuminate Education
| Breach | Affected | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosed Apr 12, 2022Apr 12, 20224 years agoHacking | Apr 12, 20224 years ago | Hacking | Education | Confirmed | Unknown |
History of this record
- 2026-09-25 · added · seed source
First seen 2026-09-25 (Research), confirmed by Research. Record counts are as reported. Not legal advice.