*Note: When signing the petition as well as any statement you may like to make please comment what degree you are studying so that your individual faculties and schools are aware of their students' positions on this matter, that it may compel them in addition to the university as a whole to take action.*

Proctorio is an online invigilation program that records students while completing assessments. It monitors users’ eye movements, keystrokes and internet activity being assessed, to identify any ‘suspicious behaviour’. Proctorio is able to take screenshots of user activity while they undertake assessment including any information that may be visible but not relevant to the invigilation, and potentially information that the user may consider private. The University of Canberra has implemented the use of Proctorio to conduct online assessment, and has done so with little to no prior notice or consultation offered to students. 

Students would have to face being filmed in their home and compromising the security of their personal computers. The video of the student can be reviewed by authorised UC staff after the examination. This recording is sent as encrypted data to the proctoring data servers in an unknown location in Sydney, Australia and is not solely accessible by the university but also by the operators of Proctorio.

Proctorio is programmed to be sensitive to eye movement and the movement of the person and will flag these innocuous actions as suspicious. To prevent being flagged for review by authorised UC staff, the university suggests that students put a ‘Do not disturb’ sign on their door, have a glass of water and go to the toilet prior to commencing the examination. The proposed examination conditions of essentially empty, quiet rooms to undertake exams is a luxury designed with the expectation that students have a quiet space, an adequate and reliable internet connection and an appropriately compatible computer to use - an issue affecting students well before this pandemic.

We the undersigned, do not support the use of Proctorio at UC. We believe it is unnecessary and intolerable for the university to have this kind of invasive access to our computers and the ability to watch us. It is ludicrous and short sighted of the university to assume at any time and let alone during a crisis like COVID-19, that all students have access to the above conditions in order to take the examinations, or that they consent to the breaches of their privacy.

We vehemently oppose this violation and demand that the University of Canberra make alternate arrangements for invigilated assessments that are more equitable and accessible than those that have been offered. All arrangements should be discussed with all students and staff and should not be implemented without first being agreed upon.

We will not accept being spied on!