Data privacy and information security are equity issues. In 2021 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report: Information Security Edition, student data privacy and governance was the highest-rated practice for supporting equity and inclusion. Survey data indicate that some groups of students can be disproportionately impacted by privacy and information security practices. We observed a number of demographic differences related to data privacy and information security. For example:

Disability

• Only 16% of respondents who identified as having at least one disability agreed or strongly agreed that they benefit from their institution's privacy and security policies, as compared to 38% of respondents who did not report having a disability.
• Just over a third (36%) of respondents who identified as having at least one disability agreed or strongly agreed that they trust their institution to use their personal data ethically and responsibly, as compared to 48% of respondents who did not report having a disability.

Gender

• Only 28% of respondents who identified as female rated their level of familiarity with personal data privacy and security as very high or above average, as compared to 49% of respondents who identified as male and 60% of respondents who identified as transgender, nonbinary, or a gender not listed.
• When asked about concerns related to third-party software companies' using personal data for marketing, 45% of respondents who identified as transgender, nonbinary, or a gender not listed indicated that they were very or extremely concerned, as compared to 30% of respondents who identified as female and 34% of respondents who identified as male.
• Only 19% of respondents who identified as transgender, nonbinary, or a gender not listed agreed or strongly agreed that they benefit from their institution's privacy and security policies, as compared to 33% of respondents who identified as female and 39% of respondents who identified as male.

Age

• Nearly a third (31%) of respondents ages 35 and over rated their level of familiarity with their institution's data privacy and security policies as very high or above average, as compared to 27% of respondents ages 25–34 and 18% of respondents ages 18–24.
• Half (50%) of respondents ages 35 and over said that they were very or extremely concerned about software companies' ability to store and protect students' personal data, as compared to 42% of respondents ages 25–34 and 33% of respondents ages 18–24.

These findings suggest that larger social factors play a role in students' understanding of and feelings about these issues. These results also point to the need for more research to understand how and why these differences are being observed.