The U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into alleged student‑privacy violations after reports that Tufts University and the National Student Clearinghouse provided student voting data to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement. The Department warned universities to stop using individual student voting records for research without proper consent and signaled heightened scrutiny of privacy protections. The probe comes amid broader attention to student data governance and the limits of research uses of administrative records. Universities relying on clearinghouse or third‑party datasets are being urged to re‑examine consent mechanisms and institutional review board (IRB) approvals. Why it matters: federal scrutiny of campus data practices raises compliance risk for institutions conducting civic‑engagement research. Colleges must audit data flows, update privacy policies, and ensure legal bases for institutional research that uses personally identifiable student information.