OPINION:
The threat of intellectual property theft in higher education is not a new issue. In Texas, the FBI in Dallas recently warned approximately 100 administrators and faculty members at universities across the state regarding the looming threat of intellectual property theft by foreign entities, notably the Chinese government.
This is just the most recent story in some foreign actors’ long-running attempts at educational interference and IP theft. Confucius Institutes were deemed a “foreign mission” by the State Department after members of Congress rightly accused these institutes of spending their years in college funneling research and stolen intellectual property (IP) back to the Chinese Communist Party. Many of these university campus clubs had to disband after the U.S. Department of Defense threatened to pull funding from universities that hosted these institutes, but they’ve since seen a resurgence under different titles and program structures.
While physical manifestations of IP theft have been easier for government officials to crack down on, the online threat of foreign entities and nefarious actors still poses a massive threat to American higher education.
In today’s digital age, education has transcended the confines of physical classrooms and textbooks, becoming increasingly reliant on digital resources, online courses, and e-learning platforms. While this shift has made education more accessible and flexible, it has also made educational IPs more vulnerable to hackers, scammers, and foreign entities.
For example, Homeworkify.eu has recently emerged as an alarming illustration of what the future of digital education might hold if IP issues are not taken seriously.
Homeworkify.eu (previously homeworkify.net) positions itself as a “free AI tool that provides instant homework solutions.” Its main selling point is that students can “unblur answers, unlock document links, and more.”
Unfortunately, the platform appears legitimate while committing intellectual property theft every time its site is utilized. The actions of Homeworkify.eu and similar sites underscore the pressing need for an in-depth examination of the substantial issues surrounding intellectual property theft and data misappropriation in higher education.
Homeworkify.eu has portrayed itself as a “Robin Hood,” disseminating stolen content from subscription-based sources to students, ostensibly “free of charge.” However, every service has a price. Regrettably, much like numerous unscrupulous actors, Homeworkify.eu eventually transitioned to monetizing this content through advertising and user data collection. While students don’t pay a financial price, they certainly offer up other forms of payment, the most troublesome being their personal data.
Additionally, these sites erode the ability for legitimate educational companies to offer their customers various services meant to help students learn efficiently and safely. To jump the paywalls, students give up a concerning amount of personal data in exchange for a brief screenshot of an answer that may or may not be applicable to what they’re learning. This short gain for students has resulted in long-term impacts on their privacy and academic success when they opt for a shortcut over the full breadth of resources offered by the original educational resource.
Unfortunately, Homeworkify.eu’s case is not an isolated incident but merely one facet of a broader problem. Behind the scenes, there’s a vast network of online sites illegally harvesting students’ personal data, and users are almost entirely unaware of where that information goes or how vulnerable it is to hackers and scammers. Whether sites like Homeworkify.eu actively sell or collude with nefarious actors, there’s no doubt student data is less safe with unknown and illegitimate internet entities.
Nefarious actors online operate with impunity, often eluding the grasp of authorities and institutions, raising questions about their ultimate motives and the far-reaching implications for our digital society. Unfortunately, the burden of safeguarding personal information falls on the users.
A greater effort must be made to verify the legitimacy of unknown and often foreign operations that peddle “free” educational information that is not truly free and results from IP theft. Both students and parents should ensure that the platforms they are using provide trustworthy information and are safe. Clear red flags to look out for include a lack of terms and conditions, no verified leadership or connections to other verified organizations, and inconsistent or constantly changing URLs.
Looking out for these warning signs can help better safeguard your personal data and prevent you from the potential headache of stolen information down the road. As the digital world becomes ever more ingrained in our higher education system, it’s critical that students and parents remain vigilant to the threats posed by nefarious actors and foreign entities.
• Fred Lokken is the chair of the School of Business, History and Political Science at Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), a tenured professor of political science, and was appointed commissioner by former Gov. Sandoval to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
