Estimated reading time: 5 minutes, 59 seconds

Really interesting read! For me, this is a two-pronged issue, concerning on each prong.

On one hand, these proctoring softwares are asking for pretty powerful permissions on my personal computer, monitoring the windows I have open, they keystrokes I make, and collecting information from my camera. I am always extremely apprehensive about letting programs (especially ones from new pop-up companies) have these levels of access to my personal computer, and furthermore, with the attention some people give to these devices, these programs will often not be uninstalled after the required examination is complete. From an IT security standpoint, this is a nightmare of a backdoor, and it is honestly only a matter of time before a bad actor gains access to this from the corporation side, or else the corporations themselves decide to supplement their income stream with data-mining ala Facebook and Google.

On the other hand, IT’S NOT EFFECTIVE. Students are endlessly clever, and I have heard of workarounds on proctoring software, ranging from virtual machines isolating the proctoring software in a sandbox, notes on the wall, mask, behind the keyboard, to more inventive solutions like casting the screen into another room and having an accomplice relay the correct answers back to the test taker via covert methods. Asking for extraordinary permissions from the public, to deliver insecure protection smacks of the ‘security theater’ that has run rampant across the USA since 2001. As you rightly bring up, this becomes normalized, adding surveillance to yet another aspect of our lives. And once the idea of being watched by your computer becomes normal, it has the potential to morph into something far more insidious, being abused by corporations or governments.

On both prongs, this smacks of the most disappointing kind of problem solving I’ve seen play out over the course of my life, whereby complex, multi-faceted problems like cheating or extremism are addressed via heavy-handed technological intervention, that invariably doesn’t even begin to address the root issue, and has a whole host of spin-off negative consequences. I’m really proud to know someone that is using her voice to fight back against this.