Federal Trade Commission Orders Illuminate Education to Enhance Data Security Following Breach
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized an order requiring Illuminate Education Inc., a software company specializing in student assessment and analytics, to overhaul its data security practices. This decision follows a significant data breach disclosed in 2022, which compromised the personal information of 10.1 million students. The FTC's order mandates that Illuminate implement a comprehensive information security program, limit the collection and retention of student data, and delete unnecessary data. The company is also required to obtain independent security assessments biennially for the next decade. Illuminate had previously been warned about security vulnerabilities by a third-party vendor but failed to address these issues adequately, leading to the breach. 
