The U.S. Education Department opened an investigation into allegations that Tufts University and the National Student Clearinghouse misused student voting data in a national study, warning institutions to stop relying on voting‑records datasets that may raise privacy concerns. The probe underscores regulators’ growing focus on student privacy and the limits on secondary uses of administrative data. At the same time, scholars publicly criticized Academia.edu’s new AI podcast feature for misrepresenting and monetizing academic research without sufficient author control, framing the issue as a misuse of scholarly content and a risk to academic reputation. Together these developments pressure institutions to tighten policies on data sharing, consent, and commercial AI use of faculty work.