PSU Settles Whistleblower Complaint: Portland State University has settled a legal complaint brought by a graduate student who says he was punished for blowing the whistle on illegal research. post 
An internal review completed last month found PSU likely violated FERPA by using the data harvested from public school computers in 10 districts in the Portland metro area. site
Ezra Whitman says he faced backlash after raising concerns that the school had violated federal privacy laws by using data on Portland-area public school students without parental consent ("Invasion of Privacy," WW, March 7, 2018). Whitman agreed to settle the dispute out of court in pretrial mediation. The university paid Whitman $12,000 and agreed to stop the project, halt any publications related to the data, and implement annual training about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.