Notes

Good morning Professor,

I hope this email finds you well!

I am reaching out to you in regards to the legal risk created as a result of ordering students to use spyware technology for online examination in ENTR200. Before discussing these legal issues, I’d like to point out the fact that we reached out to our Law Professor (BU231) with similar concerns and as such he removed the webcam and microphone requirements for online examination effective June 2nd, 2020.

I understand that these are very difficult times for professors, and it is absolutely critical to the University’s missions and quality of learning to protect academic integrity to the fullest extent possible which I totally support. However, there are alternative ways to do so!

To provide some legal context, conducting exams using spyware software which utilizes students’ personal device webcam or microphones can very well lead to any student being able to pursue legal action against the University, filing a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, and contacting civil rights groups to file a class action lawsuit. It is a human rights violation, because the software that the University seems intent on using, marks taking a drink of water or eating a snack as cheating. Students get flagged for cheating if they exit the view of the webcam, preventing them from going to the washroom. Preventing students from eating, drinking, or using the bathroom is a human rights violation.

It is also a liability issue to order students to install spyware that compromises our own personal devices since we are not provided with university devices to conduct these exams.

From my personal point of view, I believe that requiring such online proctoring software would violate Articles 3, 12, 17, and 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html). For some students with disabilities, it also violates Article 5.

While the UDHR isn't binding on the University, I would still encourage you to reconsider before violating one sixth of the human rights recognized by the UN with a single bad policy decision.

I apologize for the long email, but I strongly urge you to reconsider our examination procedures and contact the University legal team if necessary to avoid any possible negligence or breach of fiduciary duty liability lawsuits.

Nonetheless, I am really enjoying your lectures (you have a fantastic teaching style) and I look forward to writing this exam!

Kind Regards,
Samer Zumot
ID: 180114640
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This petition has been signed by the following ENTR200 Students: