Anti-Cheat and Proctoring

What Coco HR monitors during an assessment, how it appears in the report, and why it's advisory evidence for a human — never an automatic rejection.

Coco HR captures a set of integrity signals while a candidate takes an assessment. The goal is to give recruiters evidence to review, not to police candidates automatically. Nothing here rejects a candidate on its own.

What is monitored and recorded

During an assessment, Coco HR collects two kinds of data.

Environment and behaviour signals

Signal	What it captures
Camera enabled	Whether the webcam was on.
Microphone enabled	Whether the mic was on.
Stayed in fullscreen	Whether the candidate remained in fullscreen mode.
Stayed on tab	Whether the candidate stayed on the assessment tab, plus a tab-switch count.
Cursor stayed in window	Whether the pointer left the assessment window.
Device / browser / OS	The device type, browser, and operating system used.
WebRTC vs public IP	A comparison used as a VPN heuristic (`isvpn`).
Internet speed	Connection quality during the test.
Location	Approximate location derived from IP.

Recordings

Continuous webcam video and screen recording throughout the assessment.
Periodic webcam snapshots for quick manual review.

Recordings and snapshots are stored securely (AWS S3), and the report includes playback and snapshot links. See Security and privacy.

How signals appear in the report

The candidate report exposes these under assessment_anti_cheat_data, for example:

{
  "browser": "Chrome",
  "device_type": "desktop",
  "device_used": "Windows",
  "webrtc_location": "Bangalore, Karnataka, India",
  "isvpn": false,
  "istabchange": true,
  "isfullscreen": true,
  "iscursormoved": true,
  "isAudioEnabled": true,
  "isVideoEnabled": false,
  "snaps": 3,
  "time_taken_for_assessment": "23"
}

Video answers and recordings are returned under assessment_video (and via GET /apikey/p-get-assessment-videos/{assessment_id}). A recruiter reviews these signals together with the actual answers and scores.

It's advisory — not auto-rejecting

This is the most important thing to understand about Coco HR proctoring:

The signals are evidence for a human. A raised tab-switch count or a VPN flag prompts a recruiter to look more closely — it does not disqualify anyone.
The only automatic action is time-based auto-submit. When a question's or assessment's time runs out, the answer is submitted automatically. Nothing else is automated.
There is no automatic pass/fail based on proctoring. The recruiter always sets the verdict (see How AI scoring works).

Treat proctoring signals the way you'd treat any circumstantial evidence: as context to weigh, alongside the substance of the answers.

What Coco HR does and does not do

Does	Does not
Blocks copy/paste during the test.	Detect faces or count multiple faces on camera.
Records webcam video, screen, and snapshots.	Block the keyboard or restrict normal typing.
Flags tab switches, VPN heuristic, missing camera/mic.	Auto-reject based on any signal.
Auto-submits when time expires.	Lock the candidate's machine or run kernel-level monitoring.

There is no automated face or multiple-face detection. Identity and "who was in the room" questions are left to human review of the recordings.

Because assessments involve recording, transparency matters:

Candidates are told they are recorded, and consent is collected before the assessment begins.
Recordings, snapshots, transcripts, and telemetry are captured only for the purpose of evaluating and verifying that assessment.
The assessment includes an accessibility accommodation option so candidates who need adjustments can request them.
Handle candidate recordings and personal data in line with applicable law (for example, GDPR in the EU). See Security and privacy and Responsible AI and fairness.