April 2, 2026
It was recently announced that as part of a class action court settlement, the ed tech company PowerSchool and the Chicago Public Schools agreed to pay a total of $17.25 million to students whose privacy was violated by Naviance, a college advising company acquired by PowerSchool in 2021. In turn, PowerSchool was bought by Bain Capital for $5.6 billion in 2024.
The lawsuit alleged that the Naviance platform contained ad tracking technology that transmitted a wide range of personal data to Google, Microsoft and a company called Heap, including student names, ID numbers, graduation years, demographic information, photographs and survey responses, as well as their private communications with teachers.
These practices, the attorneys argued, amounted to “unlawful wiretapping” and “eavesdropping,” in violation of several federal and state privacy laws.
Naviance is widely used in schools throughout the country for college application and advising purposes, including in many NYC high schools. Any student who logged into this platform at least once at school or at home between August 18, 2021 through January 23, 2026 is eligible for payment through the court settlement. A preliminary estimate by the attorney is that each student may receive about $50, depending on how many apply.
You (or your child if they are over 18) is supposed to have been sent a notice by snail mail or email already on how to file a claim as part of the court settlement, along with a Class Member ID number. But if you haven’t received this notice, you can still submit a claim here.
We have long been concerned about the privacy and safety of PowerSchool programs in general and Naviance in particular, and we have communicated our concerns with DOE’s Chief Privacy Officer, to no avail.
Several years ago, we had shared reports in the publication The Markup, showing how Naviance had been found to allow colleges to send targeted ads to students through its platform, in some cases ads that discriminated by their race. These ads were purportedly disguised as objective college recommendations. Using personal data to send targeted ads violates the provisions of the NY Student Privacy Law.
Then, as you may recall, in December 2024, a massive breach of the PowerSchool student information system exposed the personal data of millions of students nationwide, including thousands of current and former NYC students. As a result of this breach, the company has been sued by many states and districts for failing to implement the most basic data security and privacy protections. After this occurred, I again urged DOE to cancel its contracts with PowerSchool, which offers many different, highly invasive programs to NYC schools, but received no response.
If your child uses Naviance, beware of any recommendations or other communications that they may receive through this platform.
I’d appreciate it if any parents whose child currently uses the platform might help us investigate the way Naviance works in more detail, to assess whether the company may still be continuing to violate our privacy laws and basic ethical standards, including through their new AI-powered chatbot called “PowerBuddy”. If you and your child are willing, please respond to this email. Please also let us know if you or your child has not received notice of this settlement, so we can inform the plaintiff’s attorneys.
Finally, whether or not you receive a settlement payout, it would be great if you would consider donating to Class Size Matters, earmarked to help fund the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy. Our amazing PCSP co-chair, Cassie Creswell, executive director of Illinois Families for Public Schools, worked with the attorneys on the class action lawsuit and helped identify the original plaintiff. We could really use your support.
