A class action case against Respondus Monitor, an online exam proctoring program, is expected to reach a decision in coming weeks.

In the suit, titled Veiga v. Respondus Inc., a group of students accused the program of illegally capturing and recording personal data. The case went to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in May 2021. Since then, a judge ruled against several motions by the company to dismiss the case.

DePaul uses the tool to proctor its online exams.

If the case is settled against Respondus, the accusers will be awarded damages, as will other students in Illinois who took a test using the software between 2016 and 2020, including those at DePaul.

In the original complaint, three students at Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago and Bradley University claim that Respondus collected their biometric data, violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) passed in 2008.

“Respondus failed to make disclosures with respect to the collection of said biometric identifiers; and Respondus also failed to disclose the retention schedule that would apply to the collection of Plaintiffs biometric data,” stated the complaint.

Per BIPA, a biometric identifier — or biometric data — refers to a retina or iris scan, a fingerprint, a voiceprint, a scan of the hand or facial geometry. 

The accusers in the class action case seek damages of “$5,000 for each intentional and reckless violation of BIPA.”

According to the suit, Respondus Monitor collects facial-recognition data, eye monitoring data, audio data of test-taker’s voices and more.

The Veiga suit against Respondus is not the only ongoing class action case involving the testing software company.

Separately, a former DePaul student, Cody Powell, is currently suing the university for its use of Respondus, making similar claims that the university violated BIPA in using the program and recording biometric data. In the case, which is also a class action suit, Powell protests that DePaul “owns, has access to, and possesses this data.”

DePaul’s most recent version of its data policy does not disclose any collection of biometric data, nor did it at the time this suit was filed.

In a third class action case, Respondus and Lewis University are being sued for the same reason.

In 2021, Respondus changed the language in its privacy and data policy to disclose the recording of user’s biometric identification and information following the class action suits filed against the company.

 Last week, an attorney told The DePaulia that the Veiga case is likely to reach a settlement in coming weeks, impacting other cases filed against or involving the Respondus. In the case that damages are awarded, students of Illinois who took a test using the software will likely be notified of entitlement to a monetary claim.