Tesla has recently faced criticism after a group of its employees privately shared highly invasive videos and images recorded by a number of customer’s car cameras through the company’s internal messaging system. Some of these videos and images contained sensitive or inappropriate content, and the customers were unaware that their video footage was being seen and shared by others.

Amazon encountered a similar situation. Following its acquisition of Ring, employees and third-party contractors were granted access to images and videos taken with customer doorbell and security cameras. Some were even found watching users’ personal footage for over an hour each day without the company’s knowledge. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that Ring neglected to implement "basic privacy and security protections."

Although situations like these will never happen at Proctorio (it’s virtually impossible), it's no secret that there have been allegations of our company's services being labeled as "spyware," and rumors about the sale of user data. It's time to clarify what we actually do with your data: absolutely nothing.

We take the protection of your personal data seriously. Test-taker data is safeguarded through end-to-end encryption, which essentially means the data is scrambled and locked and cannot be unscrambled or unlocked without the proper key, preventing any unauthorized access by third parties, including Proctorio.

Some test-takers have expressed concerns about Proctorio being able to go back and watch their recordings, but the truth is, we don’t have access to them. Only those with authorized permission from your institution can view them. Access to test-taker data is controlled and managed by the institution itself, not Proctorio.

With that said, test-takers are informed about the duration and location for which their recordings will be stored before they begin their exam. The specific data retention period is determined by the institution and typically does not exceed more than one year.

When Proctorio first launched, we were ahead of the curve in terms of data protection and privacy, more than most companies ten years ago. In 2013, privacy wasn't a widely discussed topic, and not many companies prioritized it. We wanted to lead the space in privacy. So, we became fixated on achieving what others couldn't, or wouldn't—securing data. Selling user data for profit never even crossed our minds.

Therefore, rest easy, as we can assure you that we are not spyware, and your privacy is always fully protected at Proctorio.