Newfoundland and Labrador report on PowerSchool hack warns about big tech

A computer keyboard is shown in this photo illustration Toronto, Oct. 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

ST. JOHN’S — Newfoundland and Labrador’s information and privacy commissioner says governments need to work together to hold big technology companies to account.

Kerry Hatfield’s comments come on the heels of her report investigating how a 2024 cyberattack on the widely used PowerSchool platform affected her province.

Hatfield says big companies behind popular platforms can use their size and dominance against demands for better privacy protections from local governments and public bodies.

Nevertheless, Hatfield concluded the Education Department did not have adequate measures in place to monitor whether the American company was complying with the province’s security obligations.

She also found the department was collecting unnecessary data, including health-care numbers.

Privacy watchdogs in Ontario and Alberta also investigated the PowerSchool breach, concluding that more than five million Canadians were affected by the cyberattack and school boards lacked adequate response plans, among other issues.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2026.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press