Project Status

[gucci-on-fleek]

(TL;DR: Respondus's internal bug tracker has linked to this repository, suggesting that the Lockdown Browser will soon be updated to prevent this tool from working.)

Project Status

Background

Back when COVID first hit, some of my professors began to mandate that we use Respondus Lockdown Browser and Respondus Monitor to write our exams. I was incensed that we were required to install this invasive software on our personal computers and submit to being recorded by some random company, with no option to opt-out. I argued with my professors that this requirement was both unnecessary and unethical, but they refused to budge.

I proceeded to submit a formal complaint to the administration, and after a protracted series of emails, they eventually offered an alternative, and having no other options, I accepted. But this alternate writing method was fairly arduous: before each exam, I would drive to the campus, check out a laptop, and drive back home. On my personal laptop, I would start a video call with my professor who would watch me while I wrote the exam; on the campus laptop, I would use the Lockdown Browser (without Monitor) to take the exam. Once I was finished, I would drive back to campus to return the laptop. And furthermore, I was the only student who was allowed to use this method—everyone else was still required to use Respondus Monitor.

Development

So then why did I decide to write this project?

1. To show that the Browser is ineffective.

   All of my complaints were ignored because the university considers “preventing cheating” to be more important than the privacy of its students. But if the Browser were shown as being completely useless, then the university would have no reason to continue using it.

2. Help honest students protect their privacy.

   Not all students were as lucky as I was to be offered an alternative writing method. I released this project to help the students who legitimately care about their privacy to partially alleviate some of the Browser's flaws.

   Of course, it is certainly possible to use this project to cheat on exams, but you could say that about nearly any technology. The mere possibility of cheating is not a valid reason to invade the privacy of every student.

Present Day

Four years ago, I started this project. It has now been three years since I transferred to a different university that does not use any invasive monitoring software, and two years since I have had any access to a computer that runs Windows.

What does this mean for the project? It means that I have little motivation or ability to make any significant updates to it. I do try to reply to issues and discussions whenever possible, but I've been quite slow at responding for this past year since I've been busy with other things. I tend to respond quicker to pull requests though.

Future

So why am I posting this update now? Well, the project has recently jumped in popularity:

Which has likely lead to this:

respondus2.com is an official Respondus domain, and Trac is bug tracking software. This repository being linked to from an internal Respondus bug tracker suggests that the Browser will soon be updated to prevent this project from working.

So what comes next? Well, it's up to you. If you're able to find a way to patch around the Browser's upcoming update, then submit a pull request. Otherwise, you'll need to wait for someone else to do so.

Links

• “Federal Judge: Invasive Online Proctoring "Room Scans" Are Unconstitutional”, EFF

• “After Students Challenged Proctoring Software, French Court Slaps TestWe App With a Suspension”, EFF

• “A Long Overdue Reckoning For Online Proctoring Companies May Finally Be Here”, EFF

• “The Security Failures of Online Exam Proctoring”, Schneier on Security

• “The extremely shady "educational integrity" industry”, Cory Doctorow

• “The pandemic showed remote proctoring to be worse than useless”, Cory Doctorow

• “Can You Trust Your Computer?”, Richard Stallman

• “The Right to Read”, Richard Stallman

[gucci-on-fleek]

Please direct all comments to the discussion thread at #53.