Proctoring & Assessment Monitoring Notice

1. Purpose of Assessment Monitoring

Educational institutions may use ScholarSync assessment-monitoring features to help maintain the integrity, fairness and security of online assessments.

Depending on the features enabled by the educational institution, ScholarSync may detect or record certain technical events occurring during an assessment.

These features are intended to provide teachers and authorised institutional personnel with information that may help them identify situations requiring further review.

ScholarSync monitoring signals are not, by themselves, proof that a student has cheated or committed academic misconduct.

2. Who Controls the Assessment?

The school, coaching centre, teacher or other educational institution administering an assessment determines matters such as:

• when the assessment begins and ends;
• applicable assessment rules;
• which monitoring features are enabled;
• whether particular activities are permitted;
• how monitoring information is reviewed;
• whether a flagged event requires further investigation; and
• whether any academic or disciplinary action is appropriate.

ScholarSync provides technology to support the assessment process.

ScholarSync does not ordinarily determine whether a student has committed academic misconduct on behalf of an institution.

3. What ScholarSync May Monitor

The information monitored depends on the particular assessment and the features enabled by the educational institution.

Where enabled and technically supported, ScholarSync may process information relating to events such as:

• starting, pausing, submitting or ending an assessment;
• the time spent on an assessment or individual questions;
• unanswered, changed or revisited questions;
• attempts to leave the assessment environment;
• switching browser tabs or windows;
• loss of browser focus;
• entering or exiting fullscreen mode;
• repeated interruptions during an assessment;
• network disconnection or reconnection;
• unusual assessment-session events;
• device, browser or session information necessary to operate and secure the assessment;
• multiple or unusual login/session events; and
• other technical indicators relevant to assessment integrity or security.

Not every assessment uses every monitoring feature.

Where practical, the institution or ScholarSync interface may inform students when enhanced monitoring is enabled.

4. Camera, Microphone and Screen Monitoring

ScholarSync will only access a device's camera, microphone, screen or similar device capability where:

1. the relevant ScholarSync feature supports such access;
2. the feature has been enabled for the applicable assessment;
3. the device/browser permissions required for the feature have been provided; and
4. the processing is permitted under applicable law and the applicable institutional arrangements.

Where an assessment requires camera, microphone, screen-sharing, recording or similar monitoring, students should be informed through the assessment interface, institution or an additional notice before or when such monitoring begins.

ScholarSync should not be understood to continuously access a student's camera, microphone or screen merely because the student has a ScholarSync account.

5. Facial Recognition and Biometric Processing

Where a specific assessment uses facial verification, face-presence detection or another biometric-related feature, ScholarSync and/or the educational institution will provide appropriate information regarding the feature and its data processing.

Such information should explain, as applicable:

• what information is captured;
• whether an image, video, facial template or mathematical representation is created;
• whether that information is stored;
• the purpose of the processing;
• how long the information is retained;
• who can access it;
• whether a third-party provider is involved; and
• how applicable privacy rights may be exercised.

Facial or biometric processing should not be represented as occurring unless it is actually enabled for the applicable feature.

6. Automated Integrity Signals

ScholarSync may use automated rules, algorithms or artificial-intelligence-assisted systems to identify events that appear unusual or inconsistent with the assessment settings.

For example, a system might flag repeated tab switching or another technical event for teacher review.

An automated flag means only that the system identified an event matching a particular technical condition or pattern.

A flag does not establish that cheating occurred.

Legitimate circumstances may generate monitoring signals, including:

• accidental tab switching;
• browser or operating-system notifications;
• accessibility software;
• network interruptions;
• device problems;
• technical errors;
• accidental keyboard shortcuts;
• teacher-authorised resources;
• emergency interruptions; or
• other circumstances unrelated to misconduct.

Monitoring information should therefore be interpreted in context.

7. Human Review

ScholarSync encourages educational institutions to use appropriate human review before making consequential decisions based on assessment-monitoring information.

Where a monitoring system flags potential irregularities, authorised teachers or institutional personnel should consider relevant circumstances before concluding that misconduct occurred.

Where appropriate, the institution should provide the student an opportunity to explain relevant circumstances in accordance with the institution's academic-integrity or disciplinary procedures.

ScholarSync recommends that no student receive a consequential academic or disciplinary penalty solely because an automated monitoring system generated a flag, score or prediction without appropriate human review.

8. ScholarSync Does Not Determine Guilt

ScholarSync provides assessment technology and monitoring information.

Unless expressly agreed otherwise, ScholarSync does not:

• determine whether a student cheated;
• decide whether academic misconduct occurred;
• impose disciplinary penalties;
• invalidate examinations;
• reduce grades;
• suspend students; or
• make final academic-integrity decisions for educational institutions.

These decisions remain the responsibility of the applicable educational institution and its authorised personnel.

9. Accuracy and Limitations

No automated monitoring or proctoring system is completely accurate.

Monitoring technologies may produce:

• false positives;
• false negatives;
• incomplete information;
• technical errors;
• incorrectly classified events; or
• signals that require additional context.

Accordingly, ScholarSync does not guarantee that assessment-monitoring functionality will detect every instance of misconduct or correctly classify every event.

Monitoring information should be considered alongside other relevant evidence and human judgment.

10. Information Collected During Assessments

Depending on the assessment configuration, ScholarSync may process information including:

• student account information;
• assessment responses;
• timestamps;
• submission information;
• assessment duration;
• browser/session events;
• technical logs;
• IP or network-related information where required for security or operation;
• device and browser information;
• monitoring events;
• integrity flags;
• teacher review information; and
• other information necessary to administer, secure or evaluate the assessment.

Where additional categories of information are collected through optional monitoring features, appropriate notice should be provided.

11. Children's and Student Data

Because ScholarSync may be used by children and school students, assessment-monitoring information should be handled with particular care.

ScholarSync and participating educational institutions should process student information in accordance with applicable privacy and data-protection requirements and the applicable agreements governing ScholarSync.

Further information regarding student data is provided in the ScholarSync Privacy Policy and Student & Children's Privacy Notice.

12. Purpose Limitation

Information collected specifically for assessment monitoring should be used only for appropriate purposes such as:

• administering assessments;
• maintaining assessment integrity;
• investigating potential irregularities;
• protecting assessment security;
• resolving assessment disputes;
• troubleshooting technical problems;
• preventing abuse;
• maintaining platform security; and
• complying with applicable legal obligations.

Assessment-monitoring information should not be used to make unrelated judgments about a student's personality, intelligence, character or future potential.

13. Data Retention

Assessment-monitoring information will be retained in accordance with ScholarSync's applicable retention practices, institutional instructions, contractual requirements and legal obligations.

Different categories of assessment information may have different retention periods.

Where ScholarSync processes information on behalf of an educational institution, the institution may determine or influence applicable retention and deletion requirements.

Information may also be retained for a limited period where reasonably necessary to investigate security incidents, resolve disputes, comply with law or protect legal rights.

Further details should be provided in ScholarSync's Data Retention & Deletion Policy.

14. Access to Monitoring Information

Assessment-monitoring information may be accessible to authorised persons such as:

• teachers;
• examination administrators;
• authorised school administrators;
• ScholarSync personnel who require access for legitimate support, security or technical purposes; and
• authorised service providers where necessary to operate the applicable functionality.

Access should be limited according to role and legitimate need.

Student-monitoring information is not intended to be publicly available.

15. Third-Party Technology Providers

Certain assessment functionality may depend on third-party infrastructure or technology providers.

Where such providers process personal data on behalf of ScholarSync, their involvement should be governed by appropriate contractual, privacy and security arrangements.

Relevant providers may be identified through ScholarSync's Privacy Policy, Data Processing Addendum or Subprocessor List, as applicable.

16. Technical Problems During an Assessment

Students should not automatically be penalised for technical events outside their reasonable control.

If a student experiences circumstances such as:

• internet failure;
• browser crashes;
• device failure;
• electricity interruption;
• accidental disconnection;
• accessibility-software conflicts; or
• other significant technical problems,

the student should notify the teacher or educational institution as soon as reasonably possible.

The institution remains responsible for determining how such circumstances affect the applicable assessment.

17. Accessibility and Accommodations

Educational institutions should consider appropriate accommodations for students who require assistive technologies or modified assessment conditions.

Monitoring systems may occasionally interpret accessibility software or approved accommodations as unusual technical activity.

Institutions should therefore consider known accommodations and accessibility requirements when reviewing monitoring signals.

Students or parents who require an accommodation should contact the applicable educational institution.

18. Student Responsibilities

Students participating in monitored assessments should:

• follow the assessment instructions provided by their institution;
• use only resources authorised for the assessment;
• avoid intentionally circumventing assessment-security controls;
• avoid allowing another person to complete the assessment on their behalf;
• keep account credentials confidential;
• report significant technical problems; and
• comply with their institution's academic-integrity requirements.

Attempts to deliberately circumvent ScholarSync assessment-security mechanisms may violate the ScholarSync Acceptable Use Policy and the applicable institution's rules.

19. Parent and Guardian Information

Where appropriate, educational institutions should ensure that parents or guardians receive relevant information concerning assessment-monitoring practices involving children.

Parents and guardians who have questions about why a particular assessment was monitored, how a monitoring flag was interpreted or what academic consequences resulted should ordinarily contact the educational institution administering the assessment.

Questions specifically concerning ScholarSync's technology or privacy practices may be directed to ScholarSync.

20. Challenges and Disputes

If a student believes that a ScholarSync monitoring signal is incorrect, the student or, where appropriate, the student's parent or guardian should contact the educational institution administering the assessment.

The educational institution should review the circumstances according to its applicable academic-integrity, assessment and disciplinary procedures.

Where a dispute concerns a technical malfunction of ScholarSync rather than an institutional academic decision, the institution may contact ScholarSync for appropriate technical investigation.

21. No Guarantee of Assessment Integrity

Assessment-monitoring technology can help deter and identify certain forms of misconduct but cannot guarantee the integrity of every assessment.

ScholarSync does not warrant that its monitoring systems will:

• identify every instance of cheating;
• prevent every prohibited action;
• correctly identify every suspicious event; or
• eliminate the need for teacher or institutional oversight.

Educational institutions remain responsible for designing appropriate assessment and academic-integrity procedures.

22. Changes to Monitoring Features

ScholarSync may modify assessment-monitoring functionality as the platform evolves.

Where a material change significantly affects how student personal data is collected or used, ScholarSync and/or the relevant educational institution should provide updated information or notice where required.

23. Relationship With Other Policies

This Notice should be read together with the applicable:

• Privacy Policy;
• Student & Children's Privacy Notice;
• Educational Disclaimer;
• AI Usage Disclaimer & Responsible AI Policy;
• Acceptable Use Policy;
• Data Retention & Deletion Policy;
• Data Processing Addendum; and
• institutional assessment and academic-integrity policies.

Where an educational institution has entered into a separate agreement with ScholarSync, that agreement may contain additional requirements concerning assessment monitoring and student data.

24. Contact

Questions regarding ScholarSync's assessment-monitoring technology or related privacy practices may be directed to:

ScholarAI Systems (OPC) Private Limited
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Email: [email protected]

Questions concerning a particular examination result, misconduct determination, disciplinary decision or assessment rule should ordinarily be directed to the educational institution that administered the assessment.