Does Chegg Notify Your School? Everything You Need to Know!

Chegg is an online learning platform that provides various services to students such as renting out textbooks, offering scholarships, helping with homework, etc. Since its launch in 2005, Chegg has been a popular destination for students looking for extra academic help. But, do universities and schools track Chegg? Does Chegg notify your school? 

Chegg does not notify your school when you use their services or share information of its own volition. However, a school or college can make a request for an honor code investigation against a student. And if that request is verified, Chegg will disclose certain information to that institution.

In today’s article, we are going to go over the privacy policy of Chegg in greater detail. We will discuss the type of information they share, who has access to this information, and how it may affect your academic performance.

Does Chegg Notify Your School?

When you sign up with Chegg to create an account, you will have to provide some information first. Chegg will ask you for your school or college name. If you are a college student, Chegg will further ask about your current year. If you are still in school, you will have to specify the year you will graduate.

So, right from the moment you create your account, Chegg knows about your school or college information. But it does not mean that they will share your activities with your respective institution. Chegg and your college work as separate entities. So, you can enlist the many services Chegg provides without tipping your academy.

Now, your college or university may find out that you are using Chegg, regardless of Chegg’s privacy policy. For example, if you use your college’s Wi-fi to connect to Chegg. Or if your teacher catches you copying homework from Chegg or using it to cheat on tests. 

In these instances, your institution has to figure out your activity. Chegg will not disclose this information on their own validation. 

However, there is one scenario where Chegg will give away information about you to your school or college. And that is when your account is under investigation.

Most academic institutions have a student conduct code. And Chegg has its own honor code. If you employ Chegg in a manner that violates your institution’s student conduct and the institution finds out about it, it can reach out to Chegg for information. The platform will then place your account under active investigation.

So, Chegg does not initiate the investigation itself. And it will not look into a student cheating unless it is brought to their attention by the student’s institution. 

When Does Chegg Give Out Information?

Chegg will provide information on any one of their patrons when that account is under active investigation. And your account will fall under investigation when your school suspects you of cheating or plagiarizing. This is mostly relevant for people who use Chegg Study.

Students from around the world seek out the many services Chegg provides. Out of all of their facilities, Chegg Study is easily the most popular among students. Chegg Study is a subscription service that specifically helps with homework. The monthly subscription for this service is $14.95.

While Chegg Study is at the heart of the company’s success, it is also the main source of controversy surrounding Chegg. This service provides fast and accurate solutions to textbook questions. Students can also post their own questions and receive detailed answers within 24 hours. 

And this is where Chegg becomes highly exploitable. Students can easily use Chegg to cheat on an active exam. They can also enlist this feature to help with their homework or assignment, which is a violation of student conduct in most universities.

Once a school or college becomes aware of this violation, they can contact Chegg and file an investigation request. Chegg will review this request to see if the request is legitimate. Once it has verified the inquest, Chegg will provide certain information regarding the account in question. 

Can Professors See Who Viewed Chegg?

Unless your college tracks your internet browsing history, professors will not be able to see when you log into Chegg. Logging into Chegg does not flag your ID or IP information for others to see. And it is not like there is a publically accessible user database that displays who is using this site and who is not.

But there are a few ways how teachers can figure out whether a student has been using Chegg. For example, many students use Chegg Study to directly copy answers for homework. When a teacher reviews that homework, they may notice the similarities in writing and look it up on Chegg. This is actually how most teachers catch their students cheating with Chegg.

Similarly, if you use Chegg to answer in an unorthodox or unnecessarily complicated matter, it may arouse a teacher’s suspicion. Then they may log into Chegg to see whether that exact question has been answered. Alternatively, they may directly request Chegg to investigate that particular question or post. 

Do Universities Track Chegg?

Usually, universities and colleges do not track student activities on Chegg or similar platforms. Tracking such activities will require a lot of time and manpower. And most academic institutions cannot afford that luxury. 

However, if you are browsing Chegg with your college Wifi, then you will be susceptible to getting caught. When you are on your college or school’s network, your internet activities will be accessible by the institution. Even if the website is encrypted, they can still see the domain of the site you visit. 

So, if you log into your Chegg account using the college Wi-fi, then you may be found out by the authorities. In fact, universities may issue an embargo on using platforms such as Chegg to stop their students from cheating. 

Do Universities Allow Students to Use Chegg?

Chegg offers both free and premium services to students in several countries. But many academic institutions prohibit the use of such platforms for various reasons.

The biggest reason is the highly exploitable nature of Chegg Study. As it is easily accessible, fast, and relatively cheap, students can readily cheat on their exams by using Chegg. Or they use Chegg to help with their homework, assignments, etc., often blatantly plagiarizing content from the platform.

In fact, since the start of the pandemic, the number of students using Chegg to cheat on their exams has increased dramatically. This is because online exams are much more difficult to moderate and control. 

As such, schools and colleges are wary of their students using Chegg and similar websites. Using Chegg violates the academic integrity or student code of conduct in most institutions. 

So, while universities cannot prevent students from subscribing to Chegg, they will take action against any student found to be guilty of using Chegg to cheat or plagiarize. 

What Information Does Chegg Give to Universities?

According to Chegg’s honor code, when a successful investigation is launched against an account, the platform will provide the following information:

• Time and date stamp of question posted 

• Time and date stamp of solution posted 

The website claims that it will not share any personal information as part of their user privacy policy. So, things such as your full name, email address, etc. are kept hidden. 

While the information they provide is not extensive, it is sufficient enough that the college can launch an academic integrity investigation against the student. 

Other information that may be present in Chegg’s report include [1]:

• ID number Chegg assigned to the question under investigation
• Chegg ID number assigned to the student
• School name the student provided 
• The question the student posted
• The answer a ‘Chegg Expert’ provided
• Date and time the student viewed the answer
• ID number Chegg assigned to that question

After an institution launches an official inquiry about academic integrity, Chegg will review the legitimacy of the complaint. After the investigation is verified, Chegg will send an email containing a report back to said institution. The report will contain relevant information regarding the investigation and the account in question.

Does Chegg Give Out IP Addresses?

According to their honor code, Chegg states that they do not disclose any personal information regarding the account under investigation. Now, whether this includes the IP address of a student or not is not specified. Some teachers have claimed that Chegg provided them with the IP address the student used to view the question and/or answer. 

What Happens When Chegg Notifies Your School?

So, Chegg will share information with your school if your school launches a successful investigation against you. But what happens next?

Well, your school or college will review the report Chegg sends them. They will then determine whether or not your activities on that platform violated your institution’s academic integrity. If you are found guilty, your school or college will take further steps in accordance with their policy. Such infringement of academic integrity may result in severe punishment, even expulsion.

Chegg has no say in what your school decides. But as part of its own honor code, Chegg will most likely delete or ban your account from their platform, provided that you are found guilty. However, you can simply create a different account and continue to use Chegg’s services. 

Why Does Chegg Ask for Your School?

When you sign up with Chegg, the site requests that you give some information. One such information is regarding your current school or college. You have to specify whether you are in a school or college first. If you choose a school, you also have to say which year you will graduate. And if you choose a college, you have to specify your current year.

The school information is mainly to verify the legitimacy of your account. Chegg aims to support and complement traditional learning methods. Having this data helps the site to personalize its services.

Does Chegg Notify You if Your Account is Under Investigation?

Chegg does not notify you when your account is under active investigation. Your school can ask for your activities and get a report back from Chegg without your knowledge. However, if you are found guilty and face suspension from the site, you will receive an email detailing all of this. 

How Long Does a Chegg Investigation Take?

Chegg has a pretty fast response time. They will typically respond within 24 hours. However, in some cases, it may take them 3 to 4 days to provide the requisite information. [2] Once the appeal for investigation is accepted, Chegg will go through the activities of the account or post in question. 

Conclusion

So, can Chegg notify your school or university? No, it does not disclose information about you unless your account is under investigation. And if your account is under such inquest, then Chegg provides data regarding your activities on the platform, not your personal information or IP address.