John,

In the midst of the chaos of the pandemic, more and more schools across the country started experimenting on students with “eProctoring” surveillance software like Proctorio and HonorLock.

After major news reports exposed the ways that this is harmful for students and doesn’t actually help anything,¹ there has been a huge backlash, and a dozen schools have said that they won’t use spyware on their students - including top universities like Stanford, MIT, and Princeton.

This week, 19 advocacy organizations came together to demand that schools cancel eproctoring contracts and ban the technology.² Schools that are forcing students to use eproctoring are getting hit from all sides - if enough people speak out now we can stop this from becoming the norm in schools. Tell school administrators to protect students by banning eproctoring.

CONTACT SCHOOLS

Here are a few reasons why schools need to ban eproctoring:

Facial recognition algorithms used by eproctoring companies are racist, with numerous Black students being forced to shine lights directly in their faces in order to be recognized by the AI.³
Eproctoring is ableist and discriminates against students who experience testing anxiety. The algorithms flag students for cheating for fidgeting, "too much eye movement," or reading questions out loud.⁴
Eproctoring discriminates against low income students because it requires a strong, consistent internet and requires students to be in an empty, silent room, which is not accessible for many students.⁵
Eproctoring programs can collect massive amounts of data, including keystrokes, browser history, and network data. Many programs collect and store biometric data like face, voice, and fingerprints.⁶
Tens of thousands of students have already been impacted by data breaches,⁷ and there are multiple lawsuits against eproctoring companies over the data breaches,⁸ as well as against universities that forced students to use spyware in order to complete their courses.⁹
Even though instructors are able to review the video of when students were flagged, ProctorU's own research found that only about 10% of flags are actually reviewed.¹⁰ This means that countless students may have been accused of cheating solely because of an algorithm.

Eproctoring reinforces and exacerbates existing biases in higher education. It also risks intensifying the school-to-prison pipeline, as surveillance in schools always harms marginalized students. Eproctoring is incompatible with a safe, equitable, and accessible education.

When quarantine began, universities were completely unprepared to go fully online. Then eproctoring companies like Proctorio, Proctortrack, and ProctorU swooped in, promising a high tech solution to remote learning. But the technology is toxic. Schools need to cancel the contracts and ban eproctoring.

Contact schools and tell them to protect students by banning eproctoring.

For the right to privacy,

Erica & the team at ❤️Fight

1. Vice: https://www.vice.com/en/article/3an98j/students-are-easily-cheating-state-of-the-art-test-proctoring-tech

2. The Hill: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/562152-advocacy-groups-urge-school-administrators-to-ban-eproctoring

3. Vice: https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5gxg3/proctorio-is-using-racist-algorithms-to-detect-faces

4. Center for Democracy & Technology: https://cdt.org/insights/how-automated-test-proctoring-software-discriminates-against-disabled-students/

5. Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/12/test-monitoring-student-revolt/

6. NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/remote-testing-monitored-ai-failing-students-forced-undergo-it-ncna1246769

7. EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/09/students-are-pushing-back-against-proctoring-surveillance-apps

8. Law Street Media: https://lawstreetmedia.com/tech/students-sue-online-exam-proctoring-service-proctoru-for-biometrics-violations-following-data-breach/

9. Inside HigherEd: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/03/11/depaul-sued-over-online-proctoring-tool

10. EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/06/long-overdue-reckoning-online-proctoring-companies-may-finally-be-here

Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.