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For my latest @TeenVogue column, I wrote about how the remote proctoring softwares that many schools are using are an enormous invasion of student's privacy. Thread 
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/exam-surveillance-tools-remote-learning
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/exam-surveillance-tools-remote-learning
Since classes are mainly online this semester, many universities are using remote proctoring softwares, allegedly to track if students are cheating during exams. Many of the softwares are able to record students with audio and video for hours at a time. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/exam-surveillance-tools-remote-learning
Some softwares also note how often a student moves or looks away from the computer. Earlier this month a student went viral after posting on Tik Tok that a proctoring service flagged her for cheating when she read exam questions out loud. Details here: https://www.insider.com/viral-tiktok-student-fails-exam-after-ai-software-flags-cheating-2020-10
Some softwares admit to keeping or giving away student’s data. ProctorU’s privacy policy states that the company “may be required to disclose personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities.” https://www.teenvogue.com/story/exam-surveillance-tools-remote-learning
All this on top of the fact that in July, ProctorU’s software had a data breach that affected over 400,000 users. More info here: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/proctoru-confirms-data-breach-after-database-leaked-online/
ExamSoft, a proctoring service being used to take the remote Bar exam in California, admits that it may use or retain “biometric identifiers” from users, including retina or iris scans, finger prints, voice prints, or scans of hand or facial geometry. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/exam-surveillance-tools-remote-learning
Students have also called ExamSoft’s software racist. Many non-white students reported having to shine a bright light on their face for the entire two-day duration of the bar so ExamSoft would recognize them. Here's more context: https://venturebeat.com/2020/09/29/examsofts-remote-bar-exam-sparks-privacy-and-facial-recognition-concerns/
Both the Electronic Frontier Foundation ( @EFF) and the ACLU of California have written the Supreme Court of California opposing the state’s use of ExamSoft while taking the bar, arguing that the software forces users to surrender private information. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/exam-surveillance-tools-remote-learning
Many proctoring companies insist that schools are responsible for what happens to video/audio recordings of students stored on the platform. Yet Mike Olsen, the CEO of Proctorio, leaked a student's private Proctorio chats on Reddit in June. More info: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/01/ceo-of-exam-monitoring-software-proctorio-apologises-for-posting-students-chat-logs-on-reddit
And according to VICE, Proctorio is now suing or otherwise harassing users who are openly critical of the software. More here: https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k9zjy/an-exam-surveillance-company-is-trying-to-silence-critics-with-lawsuits
Students at several schools including the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Texas at Dallas have started petitions to convince their respective administration to stop using remote proctoring services due to privacy concerns. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/exam-surveillance-tools-remote-learning
Experts say that these softwares are not only an extreme invasion of privacy, but an ineffective way of determining if students are cheating. No one deserves to be surveilled like this in order to attend school. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/exam-surveillance-tools-remote-learning
Thank you so much to everyone who spoke with me for this and to @allegrakirkland for the edits!!
