Who Created Honorlock? History, How It Works & What Students Should Know
Honorlock was founded in 2014 at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. It started as a browser-based solution to academic integrity concerns in online courses and has grown into one of the most widely used remote proctoring platforms in higher education. This guide covers the company’s origins, exactly how the software monitors students, what actually triggers a flag, and what your options are when you have a proctored exam coming up.
Quick Answer: Who Created Honorlock?
Founded: 2014 at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida.
Co-founder and former CEO: Michael Hemlepp. Background in healthcare administration and business development, not software engineering.
How it grew: FAU served as the initial testing ground. Venture capital funding followed. COVID-19 accelerated adoption across hundreds of institutions.
What it is today: One of the largest remote proctoring platforms in U.S. higher education, integrating with Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Brightspace, and others.
Table of Contents
1) The History of Honorlock
Remote proctoring as a category emerged because online education created a real structural problem: institutions needed to administer high-stakes exams to students who were no longer physically present. The first generation of solutions used live human proctors watching via webcam — expensive, hard to scale, and logistically complex. By the early 2010s, AI-powered automation made fully software-based monitoring feasible, and several companies moved to fill the gap at the same time.
Honorlock entered that market in 2014 with a specific positioning strategy: easier for students to use than competitors, tighter institutional support, and a browser extension architecture that required no separate software download. Florida Atlantic University’s online program expansion provided the initial proving ground. From there, venture capital funded a national sales push to other institutions.
COVID-19 was the inflection point. When campuses closed in spring 2020, institutions that had never used remote proctoring had to deploy it almost overnight. Honorlock, along with Proctorio, Respondus, and ProctorU, saw adoption jump dramatically. Hundreds of universities that signed emergency contracts in 2020 have kept them in place since.
How Honorlock compares to its main competitors
Honorlock
Automated AI with on-demand live human support. Browser extension. Positioned as the most student-friendly option in the automated proctoring category.
Proctorio
Fully automated, no human involvement. More aggressive data collection. Higher profile in terms of student complaints and legal challenges.
ProctorU
Live human proctors watching in real time. More expensive and slower to scale. Can interact with students during the exam.
Respondus Monitor
Records the session for instructor review after the fact rather than AI-flagging in real time. Generally considered less aggressive than Honorlock or Proctorio.
2) What Honorlock Actually Monitors
Honorlock runs as a Google Chrome extension. When a student starts a proctored exam, the extension activates and gives Honorlock access to webcam, microphone, browser activity, and screen. All of this data is transmitted to Honorlock’s servers and stored for instructor review. Here is what the system is actually watching.
Browser lockdown specifics
During an exam, Honorlock disables right-click context menus, blocks keyboard shortcuts including Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and Alt+Tab, prevents new tabs or windows from opening, disables browser developer tools, and forces full-screen mode. Students cannot access other applications or websites while the exam is active.
What “on-demand live support” means
Unlike Proctorio, which is fully automated, Honorlock advertises on-demand access to a live human proctor. If a student has a technical issue or needs clarification, they can connect to a live agent. This is Honorlock’s main differentiator from fully automated competitors — in practice, how much it matters depends on how quickly agents respond and whether the institution has enabled the feature.
3) What Triggers a Flag
Honorlock’s AI generates flags automatically during the exam. These flags are timestamped and surfaced to instructors for review — the instructor then decides whether to act on them. Understanding what gets flagged is useful regardless of what your exam situation looks like.
Important: A flag is not an accusation. It is a timestamp the AI marked as worth reviewing. Instructors see flags alongside the video footage and decide whether to investigate further. Many flags are cleared immediately on review.
Eye and head movement
Looking away from the screen repeatedly, excessive head movement, or looking down are among the most common triggers. Thinking with your eyes closed or looking at the ceiling can generate flags.
Additional faces in frame
The AI attempts to detect more than one face in the webcam view. Roommates walking by, family members in shared spaces, or even certain poster images have triggered this.
Leaving the frame
Moving out of webcam view entirely. Leaning back too far, adjusting your chair, or standing up will trigger this flag.
Audio anomalies
Voices other than the test-taker, loud background noise, or the system detecting speech patterns it interprets as a second person in the room.
Tab or window activity
Any attempt to navigate away from the exam window, even accidentally pressing keyboard shortcuts, is logged.
Unusual answer timing
Answering questions significantly faster than expected, or pausing for unusually long periods on specific questions, can be flagged as a behavioral anomaly.
4) Does Honorlock Actually Catch Cheating?
This is worth being direct about. Honorlock’s AI cannot determine intent. It can detect that a student looked away from the screen for three seconds. It cannot determine whether that student was reading notes or staring at the wall while thinking. The gap between those two things is where the system’s limitations become significant.
False positive rates are high
Research on automated proctoring consistently shows that a substantial share of flags are generated by innocent behavior. Students report being flagged for adjusting their posture, for the way they process questions visually, for environmental factors like shadows or window light, and for physical conditions that affect how they look on camera. The AI has no mechanism for distinguishing these from actual academic dishonesty.
What this means practically
For honest students
Normal test-taking behavior can generate flags. Being aware of the most common triggers lets you avoid unnecessary ones.
For instructors
Flags require instructor review and judgment. The system surfaces candidates — instructors make the actual decision.
Algorithmic bias
Research shows AI systems of this type perform less accurately across different racial groups, lighting conditions, and home environments.
5) Privacy Concerns Students Should Know
Honorlock collects and stores a significant amount of data during each exam session. Students have a legitimate interest in understanding exactly what is being retained and who has access to it.
What gets stored
Video and audio recordings of the full exam session, facial recognition data from identity verification, browser activity logs, keystroke patterns, mouse movements, AI-generated flag timestamps, and system information about your computer.
Who has access
Your instructor, Honorlock staff who review flagged sessions, and potentially others depending on your institution’s contract. Retention periods vary — ask your institution specifically how long recordings are kept and under what conditions they are deleted.
Biometric data
Identity verification creates facial geometry data. Several states — most notably Illinois under BIPA — have specific laws governing biometric data collection that may apply depending on where you are located.
Outside of exams
The extension is only active during designated exam windows. Outside of exams it cannot monitor your computer. Students who prefer not to leave the extension installed can remove it after each exam and reinstall before the next one.
6) What to Expect During a Proctored Exam
If you have an Honorlock exam coming up, knowing what the setup process looks like reduces surprises on exam day. Technical problems during setup are one of the most common sources of lost exam time.
Before the exam
2. Run the system check (webcam, microphone, internet speed)
3. Complete identity verification: show photo ID to camera
4. Complete room scan: 360-degree sweep of your space
5. Begin the exam — monitoring starts immediately
Common technical problems and how to avoid them
Extension not loading
Restart Chrome completely, not just the tab. Make sure you are using Chrome and not another browser.
Webcam not detected
Check Chrome’s camera permissions in settings. Close any other application that may be using the camera.
Poor lighting flags
Face a window or lamp. Backlit setups where the light source is behind you will cause webcam recognition issues.
Connection drops
Wired ethernet is more stable than Wi-Fi. If you lose connection mid-exam, contact your instructor immediately and document the disconnection time.
7) How FMMC Helps with Honorlock Exams
FMMC has extensive experience with Honorlock-proctored exams across math, statistics, science, and related courses. Students come to us when the exam is high-stakes, the material is difficult, and they need a guaranteed result. Our team handles the exam with your A/B grade guaranteed or your money back — see our Honorlock exam help page for specifics on how we work.
Proctored Exam Help
Honorlock, Respondus, ProctorU, Proctorio — our team is experienced across all major platforms. See our proctored exam page for the full list of platforms we support.
Math & Stats Courses
Algebra through calculus, statistics, and science courses on MyMathLab, ALEKS, WebAssign, Canvas, and Brightspace. See our algebra help page for a full subject list.
A/B Guarantee
A or B grade or your money back, no exceptions — see the guarantee details.
Exam coming up? Tell us the course, platform, and exam date.
FAQ: Honorlock
Who founded Honorlock and when?
Honorlock was founded in 2014 at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. Michael Hemlepp served as co-founder and CEO during the company’s early growth phase. The platform was built initially to address online exam integrity concerns at FAU before expanding to hundreds of institutions nationwide.
Can Honorlock see my screen when I’m not taking an exam?
No. The extension is only active during designated exam sessions. Outside of those windows it cannot monitor your screen, webcam, or microphone. If you prefer not to leave it installed between exams, you can remove it after each exam and reinstall when needed.
What does an Honorlock flag actually mean?
A flag is a timestamped alert the AI generated during your exam. It means the system detected something it was programmed to mark as worth reviewing — not that you have been found guilty of anything. Your instructor sees the flag alongside the corresponding video footage and makes their own judgment. Many flags are generated by normal test-taking behaviors and are cleared immediately on review.
Does Honorlock use facial recognition?
Yes. Identity verification at the start of the exam involves a facial recognition scan matched against your photo ID. This creates biometric data that is stored on Honorlock’s servers. Students in states with biometric privacy laws — particularly Illinois — may have additional rights regarding this data.
How long does Honorlock keep exam recordings?
Retention periods are set by the institution, not by Honorlock uniformly. Some institutions retain recordings for the duration of a semester, others for multiple years. Ask your institution’s registrar or IT department for the specific retention policy that applies to your program.
Can FMMC help me with a Honorlock-proctored exam?
Yes. FMMC supports Honorlock exams across math, statistics, and science courses with an A/B grade guarantee. See our Honorlock exam help page for details, or get a free quote.
Honorlock Exam Coming Up?
Tell us your course, platform, and exam date. FMMC’s experts handle it — A/B guaranteed or your money back.
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