University of Regina Anti-Cheating Tool Sparks Data Concern

Students of the University of Regina expressed worries about the anti-cheating software used by the institution to monitor remote examinations, reported CBC Canada. Proctortrack has features that take random photos and recordings during the exam.

The software, which is an online proctoring program, is designed to help the university detect academic misconduct. It uses a variety of methods to ensure that students maintain academic integrity while taking tests.

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Some of the measures taken by Proctortrack include “continuous identity verification throughout the exam via facial recognition.” This, using this program requires students to allow the tool access to their web camera.

University of Regina Anti-Cheating Tool

Concerns over possible privacy violations resulted in a signature campaign that garnered over 1,700 signatures from university students.

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Petition signee Julian Wotherspoon said, “By allowing this software access to my computer, I would be giving it access to my audio recordings of my home, video recordings of my home, and of biometric data and scans of my face.”

CBC noted that while open, Proctortrack takes photos and audio recordings at random. Aside from face recognition and random collection of images and audio, the software also uses multi-factor biometric authentication.

In a report regarding the matter published by CTV News, Elias Maze, a fourth-year economics student at the university, said that the program is “invasive to students” and that a software “should not have access to [his] facial recognition and knuckle scans.” 

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The collected data are then sent to a server, in which it will be kept for 180 days. University of Regin interim provost and vice-president of academics David Gregory clarified that this storage period is necessary in case of allegations of academic misconduct which needs investigation.

Gregory said that there is “a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding” regarding the program. He explained that the remote proctoring tool does not monitor user web browser history, eye movements, and keystrokes. It also does not take iris scans.

Instead, the program will use students’ cameras to verify whether the exam taker’s face matches the photo on their school identification card.

Gregory also noted that “it does not determine academic misconduct” but “simply a tool that an instructor can go back and look at if they perceive something untoward on the exam itself.”

Maze, however, believes that “there’s no way that professors should be allowed to see inside students help homes.”

To eliminate the use of concerning tools, Wotherspoon suggested doing final projects, presentations, or open-book examinations.

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