Key Themes

Our findings are influenced by the context in which the student participants currently operate. For example, students who were taking classes in person had very different perspectives on the trade-offs between data privacy and the ability to be on campus and learn and live among their peers. Students from smaller campuses had more trust in their institutions in general than students from larger institutions. The focus groups resulted in a number of key themes, which, while not generalizable to all students at all institutions, provided deep and insightful perspectives. First, we explored students' thoughts on the institutional collection and use of specific data, including the use of third-party companies, social media data, location data, and the use of proctoring software. Then we examined students' perceptions of trust when it came to institutional use of their data to craft interventions. We were interested in their ideas about transparency, the messenger used for a given message, and when this work can step over the line into paternalism.