University of Wisconsin Honorlock 'racist' online proctoring
Occurred: April 2021
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The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) has disabled its Honorlock anti-cheating software after three students with darker skin complained the programme had failed to recognise their facial features.
Honorlock is an automated proctoring solution designed to help schools and universities monitor exams live using AI technologies. It lets college administrators customise online exams and generate analytics, and students to verify their identity and take tests using a Google Chrome plugin.
Honorlock disputed the issue was related to skin tone, suggesting the students were looking down or away from the webcam during their exam.
UW-Madison first started working with Honorlock in summer 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, which forced many students across the US to take exams in their homes.
In October 2021, the university renewed its contract with Honorlock, despite over 2,000 UW-Madison students signing a petition complaining it abuses student privacy and calling for it to be banned.
Operator: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Developer: Honorlock
Country: USA
Sector: Education
Purpose: Detect and prevent cheating
Technology: Facial recognition; Voice recognition
Issue: Accessibility/usability; Accuracy/reliability; Bias/discrimination - race, ethnicity, disability, gender; Effectiveness/value; Privacy; Surveillance
Transparency: Governance; Black box
System
Research, audits, investigations, inquiries, litigation
https://www.change.org/p/student-ban-honorlock-at-uw-madison
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/09/students-are-pushing-back-against-proctoring-surveillance-apps
News, commentary, analysis
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Type: IncidePublished: January 2023