The subject. The article is devoted to the analysis of legislation on personal data and it’s enforcement in the educational process in higher educational institutions.The purpose of the article is highlight controversies in legislation on personal data, generating mistakes in enforcement during the educational procedures.The description of methodology. The author uses methods of complex analysis, synthesis, as well as formal-logical and formal-legal methods.The main results and scope of their application. The practice of interpreting the concepts of “personal data”, “confidential personal data”, “official secret”, “publicly available personal data” is extremely contradictory.Currently, there are hundreds departmental regulatory legal acts about various aspects of the protection of official secrets. Analysis of these acts shows that the rules aimed at preserving the confidentiality of official information regulate the following aspects of the functioning of state and municipal bodies, institutions and organizations: (a) ensuring access to official information; (b) providing state and municipal services; (c) document flow and record keeping; (d) staffing; (e) anti-corruption; (f) use of information systems; (g) interaction with the media; (h) prevention of conflicts of interest.The study load cannot be attributed to the personal data, that requires the consent of the teacher to be processed. The study load is nothing more than publicly available information, arising from the principles of collegiality of educational process management, competitiveness of education, its openness and transparency, that are established in the legislation on education.Conclusions. Extended interpretation of confidential personal data and inclusion of the teaching load to it is unacceptable. This contributes to conflicts of interest, corrupt factors and devaluation of higher education.Анализируется применение законодательства о персональных данных, преимущественно в учебном процессе в вузах, взаимосвязь персональных данных с конфиденциальной и служебной информацией. Делается вывод о недопустимости расширительного толкования конфиденциальных персональных данных и отнесения к ним учебной нагрузки – это способствует конфликту интересов, возникновению корруп-циогенных факторов и девальвации высшего образования
