Dear Mr Cole,

 

I refer to your request of 22 September 2021. Unfortunately, consultations
necessary to make a decision on your request are such that a proper
response cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit.
Accordingly, the University has extended the time limit for your request
until 22 October 2021 under section 15A of the Official Information Act.
This is the new maximum time limit for the University’s response; we will
respond to your request as soon as reasonably practicable.

You have the right to make a complaint to an Ombudsman if you are
dissatisfied with this extension.

Yours sincerely,
Rebecca Ewert

General Counsel

University of Auckland

From: Mr Cole <[1][FOI #16841 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 22 September 2021 5:15 PM
To: legal <[2][email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Proctored Invigilation of Law
School Examinations in Semester 2, 2021

 

Dear University of Auckland,

A. Please provide all written correspondence within the university
regarding the decision to hold faculty of law exams via Inspera Smarter
Proctoring rather than uninvigilated online or invigilated in-person in
2021.

B. Additionally, please provide answers to the following questions
relating to the Inspera Smarter Proctoring.

I note the outstanding public interest in this information, in the
avoidance of erroneous persecution from breaches of the Student Academic
Conduct Statue (2020) derived from the automatic flagging of Inspera
Smarter Proctoring. This Official Information Act Request seeks the
avoidance of any doubt as to what the requirements are. If the University
chooses to refuse information for a "good" reason, could they please also
quantify why they believe that reason outweighs the public interest.

1. Will the Semester 2, 2021 law-faculty exams listed below, herein "the
specified exams", be held online, via Inspera Smarter Proctoring?

LAW 121G Law and Society
LAW 131 Legal Method
LAW 141 Legal Foundations
LAW 201 Criminal Law
LAW 211 Public Law
LAW 231 Law of Torts
LAW 241 Contract Law
LAW 301 Land Law
LAW 306 Equity
LAW 458 Legal Ethics

2. Will the specified exams be conducted using the Safe Exam Browser
product from Inspera?

3. What recording options will be enabled for Inspera Smarter Proctoring
in the specified exams? For the avoidance of doubt, the options are any
combination of Video, Audio and Screen.

4. Will the lockdown browser automatically close when the examination time
limit is exceeded in the specified exams?

5. Will the lockdown browser automatically submit the exam when the
examination time limit is exceeded in the specified exams?

6. What Inspera Security Policy will be employed in the specified exams?
For the avoidance of doubt, the options are one of: "None", "Open",
"Moderate (without assistive technology)", "Moderate (with assistive
technology)", "Strict".

7. What Inspera proctoring flags and at what Inspera confidence level will
be manually followed up by the University in the specified exams?

Further, could you please address whether the following events would be
allowed or not allowed and which events would be subject to manual
investigation during the specified exams?

7a. Leaving the room to use the bathroom.
7b. Leaving the room to fill up a drink bottle.
7c. Pacing around the room.
7d. Speaking to yourself during an examination while in the frame and
focus of your webcam.
7e. Webcam not working as expected during the examination (e.g. going
black, having dark spots).
7f. Having a child, parent or family member enter the student examination
space (as defined by the range of view of the webcam) without any
communication.
7g. Having a child, parent or family member enter the student examination
space (as defined by the range of view of the webcam) with only single
direction communication from them about an aspect unrelated to the
examination.
7h. Having a child, parent or family member enter the student examination
space (as defined by the range of view of the webcam) with bi-directional
communication to them about an aspect unrelated to the examination.
7i. Checking notes on another device from the one running Inspera Smarter
Proctoring (e.g. iPad, tablet, phone)
7j. Having Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp or any other
application or website capable of communicating with others open during
the examination.
7k. Having an unsigned kernel level, or ring 0,1 or 2 driver installed.
7l. Having a signed kernel level, or ring 0,1 driver installed.
7m. Having system integrity protection disabled within macOS.
7n. Taking the exam in a virtual machine with a type-1-hypervisor.
7o. Taking the exam in a virtual machine with a type-2-hypervisor.
7p. Running as an unprivileged (non-admin) user.
7q. Checking your phone and/or using your phone for timing.
7r. Averting your eyes to the main screen.
7s. Having a second monitor connected to your computer.
7t. Having the law school note bank open on your computer.
7u. Having your own examination notes open on your computer
7v. Having previous assessments open on your computer.
7w. Eating food during your assessment when you don't have a specific
exception to do so.

8. Will students be penalised for a loss of internet connection during the
specified exams? For the avoidance of doubt, "penalised" here means
flagged and possibly investigated for academic misconduct.

9. What is the data retention policy of the university in regards to the
examination data for the specified exams?

10. What should students do if they lose or irrevocably damage their
student IDs prior to a specified exams?

11. Has the University Of Auckland given due consideration and conducted
due-diligence to the data security risks of a widespread installation of
software with administrator permissions in the specified exams?

12. Has the University Of Auckland given due consideration to the mental
health affect on students from feeling like they are being "watched"
during the specified exams?

13. Will there be spaces on campus, or elsewhere, available for University
Of Auckland students to sit the specified examinations where their home
circumstances don't meet the requirements?

Given that examinations for these courses start in 5 weeks if the
authority of the University Of Auckland requires an extension of the time
period to respond (under section 15A of the Official Information Act
1982), would they please provide a staged reply containing the information
that has been collected when the extension is communicated.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Cole

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[3][FOI #16841 email]

Is [4][University of Auckland request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to University of Auckland? If so, please contact us using this
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-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

References

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6. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

Dear Mr Cole,

 

I refer to your request of 22 September 2021. The University’s response
follows.

 

Although the information provided is correct as at the time of this
response, this response is not an official source of rules for the
University’s examinations. This response will not be updated if the rules
change. The University’s website, and in particular the Examination
Instructions, set out the official rules for University examinations.

 

A. Please provide all written correspondence within the university
regarding the decision to hold faculty of law exams via Inspera Smarter
Proctoring rather than uninvigilated online or invigilated in-person in
2021.

The documents requested attached. Some material has been redacted under
section 9(2)(g)(i) of the Official Information Act, to maintain the
effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression
of opinions between University staff in the course of their duty.

 

B. Additionally, please provide answers to the following questions
relating to the Inspera Smarter Proctoring.

 

“1. Will the Semester 2, 2021 law-faculty exams listed below, herein "the
specified exams", be held online, via Inspera Smarter Proctoring?

LAW 121G Law and Society
LAW 131 Legal Method
LAW 141 Legal Foundations
LAW 201 Criminal Law
LAW 211 Public Law
LAW 231 Law of Torts
LAW 241 Contract Law
LAW 301 Land Law
LAW 306 Equity
LAW 458 Legal Ethics”

Yes.

 

“2 – Will the Semester 2 online invigilated exams be conducted using the
Safe Exam Browser product from Inspera?”

 

Yes. There are 35 examinations in Semester 2 that will be using Safe Exam
Browser in conjunction with Smarter Proctoring.

“3. What recording options will be enabled for Inspera Smarter Proctoring
in the specified exams? For the avoidance of doubt, the options are any
combination of Video, Audio and Screen.”

During the exam, Smarter Proctoring records the student via their webcam
and microphone.  The student’s screen is also recorded.

“4. Will the lockdown browser automatically close when the examination
time limit is exceeded in the specified exams?”

No, after the student has submitted, the browser will perform its final
sync process and will then close automatically.
“5. Will the lockdown browser automatically submit the exam when the
examination time limit is exceeded in the specified exams?”
Exams do not auto-submit when Smarter Proctoring is being used. Students
will need to push the ‘submit’ button to submit their exam and will be
reminded to in information provided to students prior to the examination,
and also 15 minutes before the end of their exam. If a student forgets to
push submit, there is a process in place to ensure the exam can be
submitted on their behalf.
“6. What Inspera Security Policy will be employed in the specified exams?
For the avoidance of doubt, the options are one of: "None", "Open",
"Moderate (without assistive technology)", "Moderate (with assistive
technology)", "Strict".”

Open.

“7. What Inspera proctoring flags and at what Inspera confidence level
will be manually followed up by the University in the specified exams?

Further, could you please address whether the following events would be
allowed or not allowed and which events would be subject to manual
investigation during the specified exams?

7a. Leaving the room to use the bathroom.
7b. Leaving the room to fill up a drink bottle.
7c. Pacing around the room.
7d. Speaking to yourself during an examination while in the frame and
focus of your webcam.
7e. Webcam not working as expected during the examination (e.g. going
black, having dark spots).
7f. Having a child, parent or family member enter the student examination
space (as defined by the range of view of the webcam) without any
communication.
7g. Having a child, parent or family member enter the student examination
space (as defined by the range of view of the webcam) with only single
direction communication from them about an aspect unrelated to the
examination.
7h. Having a child, parent or family member enter the student examination
space (as defined by the range of view of the webcam) with bi-directional
communication to them about an aspect unrelated to the examination.
7i. Checking notes on another device from the one running Inspera Smarter
Proctoring (e.g. iPad, tablet, phone)
7j. Having Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp or any other
application or website capable of communicating with others open during
the examination.
7k. Having an unsigned kernel level, or ring 0,1 or 2 driver installed.
7l. Having a signed kernel level, or ring 0,1 driver installed.
7m. Having system integrity protection disabled within macOS.
7n. Taking the exam in a virtual machine with a type-1-hypervisor.
7o. Taking the exam in a virtual machine with a type-2-hypervisor.
7p. Running as an unprivileged (non-admin) user.
7q. Checking your phone and/or using your phone for timing.
7r. Averting your eyes to the main screen.
7s. Having a second monitor connected to your computer.
7t. Having the law school note bank open on your computer.
7u. Having your own examination notes open on your computer
7v. Having previous assessments open on your computer.
7w. Eating food during your assessment when you don't have a specific
exception to do so.”

During the exam the functionality records the student via their webcam and
microphone, and records their screen.  In the background the system flags
behaviours that may indicate a breach of academic integrity e.g., presence
of another person in the room (visually or heard).   The flags recorded
are reported to the Examinations Office by the system once the examination
is complete.  The Examinations Office will then manually review the
recordings of exams where the number and type of flags may indicate a
potential for academic misconduct. Recordings will never be used in
isolation or without human oversight to determine events of academic
misconduct, but may be considered in conjunction with other evidence if it
is likely that academic misconduct has occurred. 

Students will be advised that in many of these events listed below (7a –
7h) where the student leaves the room or there is unexpected sound or
another person present will be flagged by the system.  However, as above,
a flag only indicates the need for checking or further review by staff. 
Students are not forbidden to leave the room to use the bathroom or get a
drink etc.

 

Students must complete the examination in accordance with the conditions
prescribed the examiner and are expected to be aware of the University’s
expectations around academic integrity.  In open book examinations
students may refer to other (legitimate) sources of information.  This may
be flagged by the system, but will be reviewed by staff with awareness of
the designation of the examination.   

 

Students are not permitted to communicate with others during the
examination.

 

The website has been updated with information around invigilated exams on
Inspera on the Invigilated Exams page at
[1]https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/a...
and there is a new link to an additional tips and tricks document
[2]https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/auckla...

 

Any attempt to defeat or undermine anti-cheating measures may constitute a
breach of academic integrity.

“8. Will students be penalised for a loss of internet connection during
the specified exams? For the avoidance of doubt, "penalised" here means
flagged and possibly investigated for academic misconduct.”

 

No, the Inspera offline procedure (including on Smarter Proctoring) allows
students who lose connectivity to continue with their exam offline and
submit via the offline process.

“9. What is the data retention policy of the university in regards to the
examination data for the specified exams?”

 

Examination data is retained for the same timeframe as paper based
examinations.

“10. What should students do if they lose or irrevocably damage their
student IDs prior to a specified exams?”

 

We understand that not all students will have their University student ID
and other forms of photo ID are accepted, e.g. passport, drivers licence,
tertiary photo ID from another higher education facility or other state
issued photo ID that the student has on hand.

“11. Has the University Of Auckland given due consideration and conducted
due-diligence to the data security risks of a widespread installation of
software with administrator permissions in the specified exams?”

 

The University's IT security team has conducted an independent security
assessment of the Inpera software that is installed on a student's device
with administrator permissions. We have based this assessment both on
third party security assessments of the product provided by Inspera, and
also on our own testing and observation of the application. The result of
this testing was a recommendation that there were no issues or
vulnerabilities with the application that we considered to be worthy of
concern based on the way the University is proposing to use this
application.

“12. Has the University Of Auckland given due consideration to the mental
health affect on students from feeling like they are being "watched"
during the specified exams?”

 

Invigilation is not unique to online examinations – on-campus examinations
are also invigilated. Mental health support is available to students – see
[3]Mental health support - The University of Auckland for further
information.

“13. Will there be spaces on campus, or elsewhere, available for
University Of Auckland students to sit the specified examinations where
their home circumstances don't meet the requirements?”

Spaces are available on all campuses at alert level 1 and 2 for students
to go to if they do not have access to a suitable exam space. There are
also some spaces available on the City campus and at Tai Tonga should we
be at alert level 3 during exams.

 

You have the right to make a complaint to an Ombudsman if you are
dissatisfied with this response.

 

Yours sincerely,

Rebecca Ewert

General Counsel

University of Auckland

 

From: Rebecca Ewert
Sent: Wednesday, 20 October 2021 4:54 PM
To: '[FOI #16841 email]'
<[FOI #16841 email]>
Subject: FW: Official Information request - Proctored Invigilation of Law
School Examinations in Semester 2, 2021

 

Dear Mr Cole,

 

I refer to your request of 22 September 2021. Unfortunately, consultations
necessary to make a decision on your request are such that a proper
response cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit.
Accordingly, the University has extended the time limit for your request
until 22 October 2021 under section 15A of the Official Information Act.
This is the new maximum time limit for the University’s response; we will
respond to your request as soon as reasonably practicable.

You have the right to make a complaint to an Ombudsman if you are
dissatisfied with this extension.

Yours sincerely,
Rebecca Ewert

General Counsel

University of Auckland

 

From: Mr Cole <[4][FOI #16841 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 22 September 2021 5:15 PM
To: legal <[5][email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Proctored Invigilation of Law
School Examinations in Semester 2, 2021

 

Dear University of Auckland,

A. Please provide all written correspondence within the university
regarding the decision to hold faculty of law exams via Inspera Smarter
Proctoring rather than uninvigilated online or invigilated in-person in
2021.

B. Additionally, please provide answers to the following questions
relating to the Inspera Smarter Proctoring.

I note the outstanding public interest in this information, in the
avoidance of erroneous persecution from breaches of the Student Academic
Conduct Statue (2020) derived from the automatic flagging of Inspera
Smarter Proctoring. This Official Information Act Request seeks the
avoidance of any doubt as to what the requirements are. If the University
chooses to refuse information for a "good" reason, could they please also
quantify why they believe that reason outweighs the public interest.

1. Will the Semester 2, 2021 law-faculty exams listed below, herein "the
specified exams", be held online, via Inspera Smarter Proctoring?

LAW 121G Law and Society
LAW 131 Legal Method
LAW 141 Legal Foundations
LAW 201 Criminal Law
LAW 211 Public Law
LAW 231 Law of Torts
LAW 241 Contract Law
LAW 301 Land Law
LAW 306 Equity
LAW 458 Legal Ethics

2. Will the specified exams be conducted using the Safe Exam Browser
product from Inspera?

3. What recording options will be enabled for Inspera Smarter Proctoring
in the specified exams? For the avoidance of doubt, the options are any
combination of Video, Audio and Screen.

4. Will the lockdown browser automatically close when the examination time
limit is exceeded in the specified exams?

5. Will the lockdown browser automatically submit the exam when the
examination time limit is exceeded in the specified exams?

6. What Inspera Security Policy will be employed in the specified exams?
For the avoidance of doubt, the options are one of: "None", "Open",
"Moderate (without assistive technology)", "Moderate (with assistive
technology)", "Strict".

7. What Inspera proctoring flags and at what Inspera confidence level will
be manually followed up by the University in the specified exams?

Further, could you please address whether the following events would be
allowed or not allowed and which events would be subject to manual
investigation during the specified exams?

7a. Leaving the room to use the bathroom.
7b. Leaving the room to fill up a drink bottle.
7c. Pacing around the room.
7d. Speaking to yourself during an examination while in the frame and
focus of your webcam.
7e. Webcam not working as expected during the examination (e.g. going
black, having dark spots).
7f. Having a child, parent or family member enter the student examination
space (as defined by the range of view of the webcam) without any
communication.
7g. Having a child, parent or family member enter the student examination
space (as defined by the range of view of the webcam) with only single
direction communication from them about an aspect unrelated to the
examination.
7h. Having a child, parent or family member enter the student examination
space (as defined by the range of view of the webcam) with bi-directional
communication to them about an aspect unrelated to the examination.
7i. Checking notes on another device from the one running Inspera Smarter
Proctoring (e.g. iPad, tablet, phone)
7j. Having Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp or any other
application or website capable of communicating with others open during
the examination.
7k. Having an unsigned kernel level, or ring 0,1 or 2 driver installed.
7l. Having a signed kernel level, or ring 0,1 driver installed.
7m. Having system integrity protection disabled within macOS.
7n. Taking the exam in a virtual machine with a type-1-hypervisor.
7o. Taking the exam in a virtual machine with a type-2-hypervisor.
7p. Running as an unprivileged (non-admin) user.
7q. Checking your phone and/or using your phone for timing.
7r. Averting your eyes to the main screen.
7s. Having a second monitor connected to your computer.
7t. Having the law school note bank open on your computer.
7u. Having your own examination notes open on your computer
7v. Having previous assessments open on your computer.
7w. Eating food during your assessment when you don't have a specific
exception to do so.

8. Will students be penalised for a loss of internet connection during the
specified exams? For the avoidance of doubt, "penalised" here means
flagged and possibly investigated for academic misconduct.

9. What is the data retention policy of the university in regards to the
examination data for the specified exams?

10. What should students do if they lose or irrevocably damage their
student IDs prior to a specified exams?

11. Has the University Of Auckland given due consideration and conducted
due-diligence to the data security risks of a widespread installation of
software with administrator permissions in the specified exams?

12. Has the University Of Auckland given due consideration to the mental
health affect on students from feeling like they are being "watched"
during the specified exams?

13. Will there be spaces on campus, or elsewhere, available for University
Of Auckland students to sit the specified examinations where their home
circumstances don't meet the requirements?

Given that examinations for these courses start in 5 weeks if the
authority of the University Of Auckland requires an extension of the time
period to respond (under section 15A of the Official Information Act
1982), would they please provide a staged reply containing the information
that has been collected when the extension is communicated.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Cole

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[6][FOI #16841 email]

Is [7][University of Auckland request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to University of Auckland? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[8]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[9]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

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2. https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/auckla...
3. https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/on-campus/...
4. mailto:[FOI #16841 email]
5. mailto:[email address]
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