With online classes comes online exams, and many professors are turning to Proctorio to ensure students don’t cheat.

Proctorio is a remote proctoring service that’s used for exams and quizzes. Proctorio records the user through the webcam. It also records the screen within the browser and sends reports of suspicious activity during an exam to the instructor. 

Tessa Robbins, a sophomore elementary education major, uses Proctorio in her Intro to Psychology class. She said her problems with the software began immediately. Her camera and microphone passed the system check, but her desktop did not.

“When I go to do the system check for Proctorio, it never works,” Robbins said. “I don’t think that Proctorio should be required because honestly, if students want to cheat, then they will find a way around the system anyways.”

Abigail Kifer, a junior pre-occupational therapy and French studies double major, said Proctorio has negatively impacted her mental health. 

Kifer said normally students are able to write out answers or go back and review questions,  but now they can’t.

“Proctorio has made my test-taking anxiety through the roof, even more than before,” Kifer said. “I’m also worried about the security of Proctorio and my computer being compromised. I understand the need for it in certain classes but it changes how I now have to take my exams.”

The Proctorio website shows the company last had a security check by a security consulting company on June 24, 2020. The audit determined that Proctorio did not have the encryption keys for any audio or video recordings. The software also was adequately protected against any form of tampering which means the program can’t save anyone’s audio or videos.

Other universities require students to pay for Proctorio directly. Students at the University of Washington can pay either $20 per course or a $100lifetime fee. Students at Wayland Baptist University pay $10 per test or $20 per course.