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+--- Thread: Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? (/Thread-Straighterline-proctoru-gone-to-far)
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - ironheadjack - 03-17-2014
Whatever floats your boat.
Using proctorU for SL really helped me finish my degree. Knocking out a bunch of SL's for gen ed fillers saved me a lot of time, and motivated me to finish. I just didn't want your misleading opinions to "scare away" any future SL students.
As far as privacy goes that again is personal choice, they are asking you to verify information that is already public record. Verifying you lived on Elm street 25 years ago doesn't register as a big concern to me. And I take my privacy pretty seriously, currently I have duct-tape covering my webcam so no one can hack into it and see me. :leaving::leaving:
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - Westerner - 03-18-2014
Mian Wrote:This article is where I got the idea that they sit and watch where your eyes are moving Behind the Webcam's Watchful Eye - Technology - The Chronicle of Higher EducationI looked around all the time during my exam, and they didn't say anything. Actually the whole ProctorU process was really relaxed and straightforward. Just be normal and honest.
ironheadjack Wrote:As far as privacy goes that again is personal choice, they are asking you to verify information that is already public record. Verifying you lived on Elm street 25 years ago doesn't register as a big concern to me. And I take my privacy pretty seriously, currently I have duct-tape covering my webcam so no one can hack into it and see me. :leaving::leaving:I was actually pretty surprised how much info they could find related to me off the web O_O But it is public records, not just something ProctorU is doing. And like Jack, I also normally have my computer webcam covered
I was wary of ProctorU at first, but overall I'm pleased with the experiences I've had with them.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - Mian - 03-18-2014
ironheadjack Wrote:Whatever floats your boat.
I just didn't want your misleading opinions to "scare away" any future SL students.
They aren't my opinions, they are what you agree to when you agree to use ProctorU. Whether they actually do the things you agree to is irrelevant. They could do them anytime after you agree to them.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - carasusu - 03-18-2014
Just to add my thoughts, the part about viewing recent sites is completely wrong. The only thing they should do on your computer is check the hidden monitor thing. For my daughter, who just took a proctored SL Intro to Comm exam two days ago, she's 17 and doesn't really have any public information "out there". She doesn't have a second photo ID either. In January, ProctorU let her take it anyway (not having 2nd ID or public info to ask security questions) with approval from supervisor. Two days ago, her security questions were, "which area code is associated to your relative Steven", "Which city is associated with your relative Steven", "In what year was your relative Steve born?" We thought that was kind of funny. (ProctorU lets me sit with her to get set up until the test begins.) The "relative" is her dad/my husband. On the city question, he was associated with 3 of the cities so she went with the most recent previous address. The area code association was his cell phone which is unlisted/blocked. Not sure how they got that one. Anyhow, it was funny that since SHE doesn't have public information, they pulled security questions about her dad.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - Mian - 03-18-2014
Westerner Wrote:But it is public records, not just something ProctorU is doing.
It's problematic in general because some records are highly personal and private and should not be public in the first place, but obviously that's my opinion not the dominating society's. But it's one thing for some datamining company you never deal with in any way to have a bunch of info on you, and quite another when it's a company that you will deal with intimately and who has power over your grade. For some people, ProctorU having certain information will put them at high risk for discrimination and harassment on the exam, in school, and in general. Some medical information is not private. Maybe you think this is no big deal, but I definitely do, especially when there's no way to opt out and use a regular proctor like the local college.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - ironheadjack - 03-18-2014
Mian Wrote:For some people, ProctorU having certain information will put them at high risk for discrimination and harassment on the exam, in school, and in general.
What do you base that off of???? ProctorU has no control over your exam or the grade you receive.....
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - Mian - 03-18-2014
ironheadjack Wrote:What do you base that off of???? ProctorU has no control over your exam or the grade you receive.....
To be clear, I should have said during the exam not on the exam itself. ProctorU can affect the grade you receive by accusing you of cheating, even if you didn't. Who do you think the school will believe? The basis of this could be the information they know about you from their background check. Things like that do happen. People do have biases, and are hateful and discriminatory. I don't know whether that's happened at ProctorU per se, I am saying that they are gathering too much information that could put some people at risk of this.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - stretcharmy - 03-18-2014
Mian Wrote:To be clear, I should have said during the exam not on the exam itself. ProctorU can affect the grade you receive by accusing you of cheating, even if you didn't. Who do you think the school will believe? The basis of this could be the information they know about you from their background check. Things like that do happen. People do have biases, and are hateful and discriminatory. I don't know whether that's happened at ProctorU per se, I am saying that they are gathering too much information that could put some people at risk of this.
I'm sure that the schlep that they pay probably close to squat to watch you take your test really couldn't give a crap about any of the information. The data is gathered from API calls to the provider so it's not like its sitting on their servers waiting to be harvested. Time to put down the foil hat. If it's such a concern to you, figure out how to keep this information private in the first place, it's all public anyway.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - ironheadjack - 03-18-2014
Mian Wrote:To be clear, I should have said during the exam not on the exam itself. ProctorU can affect the grade you receive by accusing you of cheating, even if you didn't. Who do you think the school will believe? The basis of this could be the information they know about you from their background check. Things like that do happen. People do have biases, and are hateful and discriminatory. I don't know whether that's happened at ProctorU per se, I am saying that they are gathering too much information that could put some people at risk of this.
I honestly don't even know what to make of this....are you saying that the 19 year old kids working at ProctorU are going to accuse you of cheating because...you're black, gay, rich, poor?
You are making statements about the ProctorU service that make no sense, if you have the time/money why you don't you try taking a SL course and using ProctorU for your final exam. That way you can form opinions based on first hand experience.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - forumuser - 03-19-2014
@gryan665 I totally agree with you. The step where they ask you these personal questions is totally unnecessary and wrong. It is also very wrong of Straighterline to have gone with them. There are many online proctoring companies out there. And ProctorU, also known as ProbesU (for their obviously invasive practices), is by far the worst one. Straighterline is risking their image by going with them. At the very least Straighterline could provide the option of going with another online proctoring company for those who find ProctorU's practices invasive, which they actually are.
One last word. People, companies and universities have to realize that they can't make cheating impossible, they can just make it harder. If someone wants to cheat, they will be able to do so regardless of whether it's ProbesU or ProctorsU. What matters is that these companies don't cross the line when it comes proctoring. Unfortunately most people in America have become numb to the invasive practices of corporates and the government alike. This is because they value money and their career over their dignity.
@gryan665 I suggest leaving ProbesU the yelp review they deserve:
ProctorU - Livermore, CA | Yelp
Also a simple googling of the term proctoru scam returns this blog page as the first result:
Read this before thinking about using ProctorU