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+--- Thread: Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? (/Thread-Straighterline-proctoru-gone-to-far)
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - gryan665 - 02-10-2014
I write this to those of you on this forum as a precautionary. I find this to be excessive intrusion into my personal life. l am unsure if anything has effected my computer, however I believe that proctoru is going to far in the questions to identify a student for an exam. I would value your opinion on this matter. I could be looking at this in a wrong light. I still have to take the chem and physics exam through them and am uneasy about it.
Hello
My name is Gary . I am the complaint in this matter concerning the unnecessary breach during the start of my proctored exam on February 10, 2014. I requested Jen from Straighterline advisory department to cc me in any and all communication reguarding this matter. I am also requesting that this email be sent to those of authority in Straighterline.
I have noticed that this communication has been sent to the password department I hope this is the proper people to handle this matter. However I feel that this is beyond the password department control.
I signed up with Proctoru to complete a final exam for chemistry on February 10, 2014. The exam was to be completed that day and I paid the necessary fee that was associated with completion of same day service.
After logging in I downloaded the necessary downloads that were required by Proctoru. Immediately all those that would have been proctors had difficulty communicating with my computer. Finally a proctor named Quentin, C, was able to access my computer. He was able to see me and I him as well as communicate verbally. He requested that I answer the questions on the screen.
This is where I had the issue of unnecessary intrusion in my life. The questions where:
what friend lives at this address
in what state was your social security issued
parents maiden name
I understand that identification is necessary that is why I used a drivers license for identification. However this is extreme in identification questioning as well as an unnecessary extreme. When I asked Quentin, C about the questions, he stated that it is not known why those questions are asked. This is again not acceptable. I have the right to know why any personal information is being asked. According to Proctoru acknowledgment and limitations, those questions would be reasonable information. Where my friend lives or maiden names are not reasonable questions. Those are and can be security questions. I accepted limited reasonable questions in the acknowledgement.
Queintin, C then asked me to show him the back of my computer immediately after these questions. I felt I did not get answer and now am being distracted from further inquires. A common trick among criminals. I am not accusing Quentin, C of anything, however the fact that the above mentioned happened and then I am being distracted set off red flags. I return with a mirror to find that Quentin, C was on my top visited sites page and has logged off. I have no idea why he would go to my top visited web sited. It has been suggested that it was to clear the cache. That is not where someone clears cache. That is where someone access websites that is most frequently visited, i.e. bank, personal sites, recent transaction....
Again I am not accusing anyone of wrong doing, but I had already established communication with him, both visually and verbally. What more should he be doing in my computer? Why all those unnecessary questions? Perhaps the biggest question is why would Proctoru need to know those questions to identify me after I showed a divers license. If I went to a physical building to be proctored I would need to show id, but they do not ask intrusive questions.
I am unsure of how to proceed with this and request that this matter be handled by those that can and have the authority to look into the subject matter. It is my understanding by Proctoru website that all interaction is saved. I request an investigation. I will seek council as to how I can assure my information has net been violated as well as to how to proceed.
Thank you
Gary
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - escalations - 02-10-2014
Yes, that is a bit too far.
I am not an expert in online courses or proctoring but I have been a Information Security Professional long enough to suggest, any online activity, including education that requires you to submit this sort of information in addition to Drivers license, dob and address (that is all on the DL) should be avoided. Specially to someone only known as Mr C.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - ironheadjack - 02-10-2014
IDK why they ask additional questions after ID confirmation but what bothers me most is that the proctor was viewing your top visited sites page. That seems like a violation of their own policies. After you authorize them to take control of your PC they check for dual monitor displays, and sometimes what tabs you already have opened, nothing else.
When SL first started requiring the proctored final exam a lot of people on this forum were against it for fear of invasion of privacy. But I've yet to hear about anyone's personal information being compromised because of ProctorU.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - EI2HCB - 02-10-2014
I'm not an advocate of SL, but I think there may have been data from a background check provided to the proctor since such information is available on background checks. I was asked my ex wifes maiden name when opening a bank account so it could be something similar. I would change all my passwords and security questions as a precaution and get onto zander insurance about identity theft protection. You can't be too careful these days. Who did you talk to at straighterline? Send me a PM and I'll send you the CEO's personal email.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - defscarlett - 02-10-2014
I always get really uncomfortable when anyone asks me these types of verification questions. It's typically car insurance that asks them though. I've used ProctorU before and never had any issues, I've even had Quentin C as a proctor before, of course I never left the PC unattended and there's not much on my desktop to view, I typically only use my laptops for personal use.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - benjenkinsv95 - 02-11-2014
This is all pretty bad. Their privacy policy bugs me. Being able to store images of your face is kind of creepy... "Your use of the service may also result in ProctorU having a stored image of your face, a stored image of the work you perform while connected to ProctorU, or a video capture of your activities while connected with ProctorU" and are okay with selling it.
And them being okay with selling or transferring information you give them to create an account is worrisome. "In the event that ProctorU is involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets, your information may be sold or transferred as part of that transaction."
Ugh. I'm pretty sure TESC uses ProctorU and I will be stuck using this shifty service.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - Prloko - 02-11-2014
gryan665 Wrote:I write this to those of you on this forum as a precautionary. I find this to be excessive intrusion into my personal life. l am unsure if anything has effected my computer, however I believe that proctoru is going to far in the questions to identify a student for an exam. I would value your opinion on this matter. I could be looking at this in a wrong light. I still have to take the chem and physics exam through them and am uneasy about it.
Hello
My name is Gary . I am the complaint in this matter concerning the unnecessary breach during the start of my proctored exam on February 10, 2014. I requested Jen from Straighterline advisory department to cc me in any and all communication reguarding this matter. I am also requesting that this email be sent to those of authority in Straighterline.
I have noticed that this communication has been sent to the password department I hope this is the proper people to handle this matter. However I feel that this is beyond the password department control.
I signed up with Proctoru to complete a final exam for chemistry on February 10, 2014. The exam was to be completed that day and I paid the necessary fee that was associated with completion of same day service.
After logging in I downloaded the necessary downloads that were required by Proctoru. Immediately all those that would have been proctors had difficulty communicating with my computer. Finally a proctor named Quentin, C, was able to access my computer. He was able to see me and I him as well as communicate verbally. He requested that I answer the questions on the screen.
This is where I had the issue of unnecessary intrusion in my life. The questions where:
what friend lives at this address
in what state was your social security issued
parents maiden name
I understand that identification is necessary that is why I used a drivers license for identification. However this is extreme in identification questioning as well as an unnecessary extreme. When I asked Quentin, C about the questions, he stated that it is not known why those questions are asked. This is again not acceptable. I have the right to know why any personal information is being asked. According to Proctoru acknowledgment and limitations, those questions would be reasonable information. Where my friend lives or maiden names are not reasonable questions. Those are and can be security questions. I accepted limited reasonable questions in the acknowledgement.
Queintin, C then asked me to show him the back of my computer immediately after these questions. I felt I did not get answer and now am being distracted from further inquires. A common trick among criminals. I am not accusing Quentin, C of anything, however the fact that the above mentioned happened and then I am being distracted set off red flags. I return with a mirror to find that Quentin, C was on my top visited sites page and has logged off. I have no idea why he would go to my top visited web sited. It has been suggested that it was to clear the cache. That is not where someone clears cache. That is where someone access websites that is most frequently visited, i.e. bank, personal sites, recent transaction....
Again I am not accusing anyone of wrong doing, but I had already established communication with him, both visually and verbally. What more should he be doing in my computer? Why all those unnecessary questions? Perhaps the biggest question is why would Proctoru need to know those questions to identify me after I showed a divers license. If I went to a physical building to be proctored I would need to show id, but they do not ask intrusive questions.
I am unsure of how to proceed with this and request that this matter be handled by those that can and have the authority to look into the subject matter. It is my understanding by Proctoru website that all interaction is saved. I request an investigation. I will seek council as to how I can assure my information has net been violated as well as to how to proceed.
Thank you
Gary
Gary,
I understand your concern, I felt a bit strange also when asked the questions. But after some reflection, this information is pulled from a company that provides public information. This information asked is basically information that is out there for anyone to purchase (with honest or dishonest intentions) through spokeo or peekyou.
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - Thatch - 02-11-2014
While I understand the concern about these questions, there is a reason that a video proctoring service as to go beyond simple ID screening. (you have to decide if it's a 'good' reason or not)
First is that with web video proctoring being a relatively new thing a greater level of assurance has to be given to the institutions involved to get buy-in from them. It's not enough to just repeat the in person ID checking by video. Concerns from educators (not well known for readily accepting new approaches or technologies) will trump what we might all seen as reasonable replication of current security protocals. Adding the additional layer of checks enables ProctorU to take the "No really, its secure, we're going above and beyond" stance therefore perhaps getting greater buy-in to what they are offering.
The second issue is one of digital Tom Foolery - As much as online edu... well, anything is a great boon, there are those that always seek to cheat the system and they can do so in ways you just can't do in person. Here is a prime example of the kind of things that are relatively easy to pull of right now...
[video=vimeo;29348533]http://vimeo.com/29348533[/video]
Granted, this particular one is still a bit crude, but this program is available now (I've installed it and played with it some myself) it is one of several and others do a better job and this will only continue to grow in ability. It will be no time before I could easily impersonate anyone on a video and an ID won't help as I could actually use the picture on the ID itself to mask my own identity.
So, agreed you have to confirm more information than you might like, you just have to determine if you are willing to do that or not, if it's worth it for the benefit. For me it is, for others it might not be. Thankfully there are more options just the one to get needed credit. That's just my two cents on the topic.
-------------------------------------------------------
Question though... what is the issue with multiple monitors and ProctorU? What if you do have a setup like that (I have 3 monitors... well, 2 and a Wacom Cintiq). How do they deal with this particular issue?
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - UptonSinclair - 02-11-2014
The questions mentioned come from public records. They are similar to the questions that are asked if you order a credit report online. I encountered errors when responding to mine and was able to provide a second form of identification. If you are uncomfortable with the questions you may be able to provide a second form of id and bypass the questions (or answer them wrong like in my case).
Straighterline/proctoru gone to far? - UptonSinclair - 02-11-2014
Thatch Wrote:Question though... what is the issue with multiple monitors and ProctorU? What if you do have a setup like that (I have 3 monitors... well, 2 and a Wacom Cintiq). How do they deal with this particular issue?
I have a dual monitor setup and took an exam last week. The proctor didn't have a problem with it. I believe they are concerned about cloned monitors which would allow someone not sitting in front of the camera to see the questions.