Honorlock Security and Privacy Statement
Florida Tech is committed to its primary stakeholders: our past, present, and future students. Ensuring a high standard of academic integrity is part of that commitment.
Proctoring exams limits opportunities for cheating, helping to uphold our academic values. Prior to Fall 2020, online proctoring requirements were limited to just a handful of courses. With the shift to teaching during a pandemic, more students are taking online exams, and more exams need online proctoring. At the request of academic leadership, Instructional Technology staff reviewed available proctoring technologies, tested solutions internally, and ran limited pilots in courses during the Fall 2020 semester. Honorlock was selected as the primary tool to support online proctoring at Florida Tech. It was selected based on technical performance, ease of use, availability of support, compatibility, and cost. Honorlock is only used for select exams as deemed necessary and appropriate by faculty. Faculty must get department approval per course to use Honorlock. In many cases, tests can be designed to limit the value or opportunity for cheating, mitigating the need for proctoring. The university supports and favors robust test design but recognizes proctoring is still necessary in some cases.
The expanded use of online proctoring has precipitated scrutiny over Honorlock’s privacy, security, and business practices. Florida Tech takes those questions seriously, and Instructional Technology staff have reviewed each student’s concerns individually. Most concerns reference social media posts that are directly refuted by Honorlock’s Student Privacy Statement. To date, the university has not found sufficient evidence to validate claims that Honorlock introduces unacceptable privacy risks to our students.
Florida Tech is committed to safeguarding students’ data. Like Canvas, Turnitin, Zoom, and other academic technologies at Florida Tech, Honorlock meets or exceeds requirements to comply with relevant privacy regulations, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Similarly, Honorlock follows modern computing standards for encryption and security, minimizing the risk of unwanted data access.
Transitioning to college and adapting to remote learning can be challenging. As we identify and face these challenges, we manifest opportunities for both personal and academic growth. Today’s students will be tomorrow’s workforce, and Florida Tech is constantly adapting to make sure our students graduate well-prepared to succeed in the future they choose.
Go Panthers!