The Respondus software was adopted by Portuguese universities and polytechnics for remote assessment of students, the Polytechnic Institute of Beja (IPBeja) refuses the system.
The National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) is investigating the legality of the use of the system as there are suspicions of violation of the Data Protection Regulation.
The program locks the computer on which it is installed, captures students' movements and sound, analyzes them with algorithms to understand if they are copying and does not commit to data deletion, collected by the North American company that provides the service.
CNPD's investigation comes after a complaint by André Teixeira, president of the Law Students Association of the University of Minho.
Remote evaluation is difficult but IPBeja refuses the system. “Serious reservations†about its legality have led institutions not to adopt it. Questions regarding data protection of students and teachers when using Respondus, have led to the fact that IPBeja is not using the same.
The Journal News (JN), John Paul Trinity, President of the Polytechnic Institute of Beja, places “serious reservations†on its use. “We are aware that the rigor and the best possible reliability of the evaluation processes are important, but the doubts that have been raised from the legal and regulatory point of view, in this case of protection and data, have led us to not use that software â€, justified.
The head of IPBeja admits that “evaluating students has been a difficultyâ€, and the bet is on a mixed model in which some assessments are made in person and others at a distance, but using other less invasive student privacy platforms.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
