May 6, 2022

UOW committed to protecting students’ privacy

Student privacy and data security a key consideration in selection of online exam invigilation tool

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that universities need to operate in ways that reduce risks of disruption to student progression. This is especially so given the unknown impact of future COVID-19 variants.

To this end, the University of Wollongong is now conducting most of its exams online and, where possible, is increasingly using alternative assessment methods.

The majority of our online exams are open-book and do not require invigilation (supervision).

However, some online exams do need to be invigilated in order to meet accreditation requirements for their course and to meet the requirements of the Australian universities regulator and accreditation bodies.

For online exams that do require invigilation, UOW will use the online invigilation tool Proctorio.

We know some students have expressed privacy concerns about the use of Proctorio, however, the privacy protections we were able to put in place with Proctorio were one of the key reasons it was selected over other potential tools.

Proctorio was chosen for UOW’s online exam invigilation following a robust review process (which included student input) in which security and privacy assessments were a central consideration. UOW also undertook multiple successful Proctorio pilots over the past two years with staff and student feedback incorporated for the upcoming exam period.

UOW’s adoption of Proctorio to replace on campus invigilated exams is not a cost-driven decision; it will be cost-neutral for the University.

In addition to the in-built protections offered by Proctorio, we have also implemented a number of additional measures to ensure the use of Proctorio meets the University’s high standards of student data and privacy protection.

We are committed to protecting students’ privacy and security during online exams. Further information about UOW’s commitment to privacy is available here: https://www.uow.edu.au/privacy/

Further information about UOW’s use of online exam invigilation is available here: PIA Report Proctorio (uow.edu.au)

Misleading WUSA claims

In promotions for its rally against the use of Proctorio, the Wollongong Undergraduate Students Association (WUSA) has made a number of misleading and untrue statements.

WUSA accuses UOW of a concerted push to online content since 2020, ignoring the fact that the increase in online teaching was driven by lockdowns and other restrictions introduced by the State government in response to the pandemic. As soon as the lockdowns ended UOW moved quickly to ramp-up a return to face-to-face teaching and has been actively encouraging students to return to campus.

WUSA claims the use of Proctorio is a cost-cutting measure. However, the use of Proctorio to replace on campus invigilated exams will be cost-neutral for UOW.

WUSA insinuates a link between Proctorio and a 2019 breach of ANU student data. The ANU data breach had no connection to Proctorio, which ANU started using in 2020.

We note that in promoting its rally WUSA asks students to share personal information with WUSA through an online form (shared with a third party) without informing students what purpose their data is being collected for, how their data will be used or stored, or whether it will be shared with other parties.