techdirt: Ohio Court Says Distance Learning ‘Room Scans’ Violate The Fourth Amendment

techdirt: Ohio Court Says Distance Learning ‘Room Scans’ Violate The Fourth Amendment by Tim Cushing:

Proctoring software used by Cleveland State University demands access to students’ homes. There are multiple providers at play. Respondus locks down students’ browsers during testing, preventing them from surfing the web (or other software) for answers to tests. Honorlock uses AI to detect cheating via laptop cameras. It also allows educators and administrators access to these cameras to view students’ rooms for things that might indicate students are cheating.

Even though nothing in the Cleveland State student manual mandates room scans prior to testing, both of these products require a scan before testing can proceed. The process requires the student to allow access to the camera while holding up their school ID so administrators can verify their identity. Then, via a private chat channel, administrators demand access to the contents of a student’s room via webcam to look for anything that might be used to cheat on tests.