McMaster students concerned about anti-cheating AI
A remote proctoring service at McMaster University that uses artificial intelligence to detect cheating during online exams has drawn the ire of some students who say the software is an infringement of privacy.
Respondus, a U.S.-based education assessment company, entered into a one-year contract with McMaster in September.
It deploys two different programs that analyze anomalies in sets of biometric data to generate so-called suspicion reports" that are submitted to the university. The school uses the reports to investigate possible cases of academic fraud.
One program - dubbed Respondus LockDown Browser - restricts students from accessing personal devices or opening additional tabs during a proctored exam. While the software is in use, it bars keyboard shortcuts, copy and pasting, screen capturing and printing.
Another program, which can be paired with the lockdown browser, gives Respondus access to students' webcams. The software flags any suspicious activity, like a sudden movement or noise, through artificial intelligence.
The calculated algorithm adds undue anxiety for students in already stressful environments like exams, said Rory Townsend, a second-year social sciences student at McMaster.
Students are anxious when they take in-person exams, and having your every action surveilled or examined adds to that," Townsend said.
In an open letter to the McMaster administration on Jan. 14, Townsend demanded the university be more transparent with respect to what biometric data Respondus collects of students - and how it will be used.
We're in an era where private companies collect as much data about people as possible," Townsend said. It's very cheap to store that and very easy to profit off that. Students should know who has their data and why."
The McMaster Students Union (MSU) echoed with similar remarks.
Students have clearly expressed their concerns with proctoring software," MSU president Giancarlo Da-Re said in a statement. We have advocated for more transparent methods of communicating the privacy and security vetting standards for these systems to students."
Several post-secondary schools in Ontario - like the University of Ottawa and Ryerson University - have seen students launch petitions against the use of Respondus due to privacy concerns and the harbouring of biometric data.
It was a hot-topic issue at Western University in October after its remote proctoring software, Proctortrack, experienced a security breach on a company server. The software's parent company suspended its service to the university for seven days to review the incident.
Andrew Clement, a professor emeritus and surveillance researcher at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information, said any software that captures biometrics poses potential privacy concerns.
The use of (artificial intelligence) techniques adds to these concerns because they are generally less transparent harder to hold accountable than more conventional analytic techniques."
McMaster spokesperson Wade Hemsworth said the school retains student data collected via Respondus for one year before it is deleted.
The university did not respond when asked why the data isn't deleted immediately or soon after an exam.
Hemsworth said about eight per cent of courses offered at McMaster last fall - 180 out of 2,220 - requested access to Respondus, which he noted costs less than in-person invigilation. He said McMaster is reviewing students' and instructors' experiences with the software.
Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com