EFF Tells California Supreme Court Not to Require ExamSoft for Bar Exam

This week, EFF sent a letter (pdf link) to the Supreme Court of California objecting to the required use of the proctoring tool ExamSoft for the October 2020 California Bar Exam. Test takers should not be forced to give their biometric data to ExamSoft, the letter says, which can use it for marketing purposes, share it with third parties, or hand it over to law enforcement, without the ability to opt out and delete this information. This remote proctoring solution forces Bar applicants to surrender the privacy and security of their personal biometric information, violating the California Consumer Privacy Act. EFF asked the California Bar to devise an alternative option for the five-thousand or so expected test takers next month. 

ExamSoft is a popular proctoring or assessment software product that purports to allow remote testing while determining whether a student is cheating. To do so, it uses various privacy-invasive technical monitoring techniques, such as, comparing test takers’ images using facial recognition, tracking eye movement, recording patterns of keystrokes, and recording video and audio of students’ surroundings as they take the test. The type of data ExamSoft collects includes “facial recognition and biometric data of each individual test taker for an extended period of time, including a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or scan of hand or face geometry”). Additionally, ExamSoft has access to the device’s webcam, including audio and video access, and screen, for the duration of the exam. 

ExamSoft’s collection of test takers’ biometric and other personal data implicates the California Consumer Privacy Act. At a minimum, the letter states, the State Bar of California must provide a mechanism for students to opt out of the sale of their data, and to delete it, to comply with this law: 

The California Bar should clearly inform test takers of their protections under the CCPA. Before test takers are asked to use such an invasive piece of software, the California Bar should confirm that, at an absolute minimum, it has in place a mechanism to allow test takers to access their ExamSoft data, to opt out of the “sale” of their data, and to request its deletion. Students should have all of these rights without facing threat of punishment. It is bad enough that the use of ExamSoft puts the state in the regrettable position of coercing students into compromising their privacy and security in exchange for their sole chance to take the Bar Exam. It should not compound that by denying them their rights under state privacy law.

In addition to these privacy invasions, proctoring software brings with it many potential other dangers, including threats to security: vast troves of personal data have already leaked from one proctoring company, ProctorU, affecting 440,000 users. The ACLU has also expressed concerns with the software’s use of facial recognition, which will “exacerbate racial and socioeconomic inequities in the legal profession and beyond.” And lastly, this type of software has been shown to have technical issues that could cause students to experience unexpected problems while taking the Bar Exam, and comes with requirements that could harm users who cannot meet them, such as requiring a laptop that is relatively new, and broadband speed that many households do not have. Other states have canceled the use of proctoring software for their bar exams due to the inability to ensure a “secure and reliable” experience. California should take this into account when considering its use of proctoring software.

The entrance fee for becoming a lawyer in California should not include compromising personal privacy and security. The Bar Exam is already a nerve-wracking, anxiety-inducing test. We ask the Supreme Court of California to take seriously the risks presented by ExamSoft and pursue alternatives that do not put exam takers in jeopardy.