AI bot sends mystery information requests to Danish schools
Friday 30th October 2026 on 22:01 in
Denmark
Danish schools have received a wave of unusual freedom-of-information requests that appear to have been generated by an AI bot, DR reports. At least 50 education institutions have received a large number of requests from the same sender, the Education Ministry said.
The requests ask about schools’ IT systems and court cases involving them. Frederiksberg Gymnasium, an upper-secondary school, received its first request on October 18. Its principal, Maja Bødtcher-Hansen, who also chairs the association Danske Gymnasier, said many upper-secondary schools had received similar messages.
Schools are legally required to process information requests within a few days and guide applicants towards the relevant information. Bødtcher-Hansen said the follow-up messages arrived extremely quickly and sometimes at unusual hours, making it clear to the school that the requests were not genuine.
Frederiksberg Gymnasium has not released any information and has reported the matter to police and notified the Education Ministry. Danske Erhvervsskoler- og -Gymnasier, an association representing vocational and upper-secondary schools, has also heard from schools receiving similar requests.
Allan Kortnum, chair of the association’s leaders’ group, said schools were facing cyberattack attempts almost daily and that their number was rising sharply. Schools hold substantial amounts of personal information, including exam records, he said, while the number of people who need access to school IT systems can create security weaknesses.
Kortnum and Bødtcher-Hansen said they were concerned the requests might be an attempt to learn how to access personal data. Bødtcher-Hansen also said they could be an attempt to exploit the requirement for public bodies to respond to information requests.
The Education Ministry said it had contacted the Agency for Societal Security and the Danish Defence Intelligence Service’s Situation Centre. Education Minister Magnus Heunicke said there was currently no indication that data had been compromised, but that the situation was being closely monitored in contact with relevant authorities.