Proctorio Blog Proctorio Blog

Two people look to a monitor filled with various options. The first carries a document with a padlock securing it, and the second is seated underneath an icon of a shield.

Striking a Balance

Yesterday, a judge in Ohio ruled that a university conducting a "room scan" during an online proctored exam was unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment. While normally reserved for more criminal and social justice matters, the judge found the amendment applied to the university and deemed their actions a violation of the student's right against an illegal search.

While it was a competitor of ours involved in this lawsuit and not us, legal decisions such as this obviously impact the choices we make in trying to provide universities with options to serve all their students' diverse needs. Here are a few thoughts we have that are shaping how we approach this task:

  1. Proctorio's suite of services are offered a la carte. Any university or institution who contracts with us has full discretion to use or not use any of our features.
  2. For over a year now, we have moved away from the concept of a Room Scan towards what we call a Desk Scan. We feel this is a more targeted approach that balances the student's very real concern about protecting the privacy of their personal space with the university's equally real concern about the integrity of their academic brand.
  3. Striking a balance is, indeed, at the core of most of the concerns and controversies of this shift to online learning. Online proctoring provides accommodation and convenience. But it must also provide academic verification. During the height of the pandemic, students had sometimes competing needs for privacy and progression toward their diploma. As COVID restrictions have lessened and students have returned to in-person classes, many have grown accustomed to the added convenience that remote test-taking provides.
  4. Our commitment to accommodating students has not wavered, even as we've experienced exponential growth during the pandemic. Our settings allow for further customization. Not only can a university turn Desk Scan on or off for the entire campus, for a department or for a full class, but also individually for students who raise a concern about privacy.
  5. The situation in this case seems to involve sharing pictures and/or recordings of the student in question. Proctorio has a strict data policy against such an act. The recordings we conduct are at the university's request and are shared only with the course's professor or other approved administrator. They cannot be downloaded and saved for unmonitored, offline viewing or forwarded to third parties. Other competitors of ours allow this, but it is a line in the sand we will not cross. We have even lost business over this issue. The data needs to remain between the student and the most limited number of university staff to conduct the test.

Proctorio began as an accommodation. We began as a force for leveling the playing field just a bit more for all learners. Whether a student is in a wheelchair attending a school that is not ADA compliant, or a trans student who is bullied by classmates, or a student in low income housing who doesn't have a strong internet connection, or a working parent who cannot find affordable childcare, we believe we provide a much-needed service for those communities. We were never meant to be the only test-taking option for students. The pandemic changed this dynamic. Now, in this new phase, many students are seeing online learning not as a need-to-have, but as a want-to-have. It is giving them those most precious commodities: time and convenience. For them, they have balanced the arguments and accepted the trade-offs.

We will continue to monitor the next steps in this case and we will continue to develop our product so it is able to remain a tool for an educator trying to serve the interests and needs of students around the world.

January 11, 2024

ANNOUNCEMENT

That's A Wrap! Community Service 2023

November 22, 2023

ANNOUNCEMENT

What are we grateful for?

November 02, 2023

ANNOUNCEMENT

EdTech Showdown: LMS vs E-Assessment Explained

October 20, 2023

ANNOUNCEMENT

Our Commitment to Our Principles

October 2, 2023

ANNOUNCEMENT

Response to RTL Nieuws

May 5, 2023

ANNOUNCEMENT

Level 10

April 22, 2023

ANNOUNCEMENT

Happy Earth Day

April 10, 2023

ANNOUNCEMENT

Paving the Way for Ethical Technology

October 6, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENT

Why Our Office Is Important to Us

September 30, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENT

No Social Media Magic—Just the Truth

September 2, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENT

Curtains Going Up

April 29, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENT

Proctorio's Ninth Birthday

April 22, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENT

Our Earth Day Commitment

March 25, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENT

LEGAL UPDATE

March 18, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENT

A Reliable Connection, Wherever You Are

November 24, 2021

ANNOUNCEMENT

Reflections on Thanksgiving 2021

August 24, 2021

ANNOUNCEMENT

Proctorio addresses remote proctoring industry concerns

July 31, 2021

ANNOUNCEMENT

Introducing Proctorio’s new and improved Policy Center

May 05, 2021

ANNOUNCEMENT

Celebrating Our Eighth Birthday

March 10, 2021

ANNOUNCEMENT

2020 Year in Review: Growth in a Difficult Time