Software firm sues UBC employee over tweets

Videos allegedly breached confidentiality

I don’t think that that’s right. I think that that’s unethical.”

Ian Linkletter

A company that provides software to the University of B.C. to help determine whether students are being honest during online examinations is suing one of the school’s employee who allegedly breached confidentiality by posting on Twitter links to seven videos meant only for administrators and instructors.

Proctorio, a U.S.-based firm with a head office in Scottsdale, Ariz., says in the lawsuit that Ian Linkletter, a learning technology specialist with UBC’s faculty of education, posted the links in August.

If the information on the videos becomes publicly known, students could change their behaviour or adopt strategies to circumvent the software, giving them an unfair testing advantage over other students, says the company’s notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

“Moreover, the plaintiff’s competitors could adopt similar technologies to those used by the plaintiff, which would harm the plaintiff’s business and dilute the plaintiff’s competitive advantage.”

The software, which has been licensed to UBC since March 2017 and has seen of heightened interest since the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a move to remote instruction, monitors students’ screens, microphones and keyboards during quizzes or exams and flags any irregular behaviour for the instructor, according to the lawsuit.

After the exam, the instructor or their teaching assistant can review the identified behaviours for any academic misconduct.

Contacted on Wednesday, Linkletter said he hadn’t been served with the lawsuit, but he wasn’t surprised, claiming that the company was “very litigious” and had been aggressive in taking on critics.

“This is very surprising that it’s happening to me, but not surprising that this company is doing it.”

Linkletter admitted that he had posted links to the videos,

which have since been deactivated, and said he did so out of a concern about requiring students to take a test on camera and subject themselves to artificial intelligence that analyses their eye movement and head movement and audio in a room.

“I don’t think that that’s right. I think that that’s unethical,” said Linkletter, adding that he believes the software picks on students who have various conditions that could affect their eye and head movement. “I know that I have freedom of expression in this case, so I will be pursuing my freedom of expression to the strongest ability.”

Linkletter’s concerns are shared by the Alma Mater Society of UBC, the student support association, which wrote a letter to UBC officials in July calling for a stop to the use of Proctorio software.

The AMS letter also outlined concerns about an alleged privacy breach of a UBC student by company officials.

UBC said in a letter to the community that the university was aware of recent concerns raised by some students, faculty and staff regarding Proctorio and that they “take them very seriously.”

Regarding the privacy breach, the university said the combative tone of an online conversation over the issue was “regrettable,” but that after a careful review they were confident Proctorio did not reveal any of the student’s private information.

In an email Wednesday, UBC, which is not named as a defendant in the Linkletter lawsuit, said it would not be commenting on the case.