Chegg is just one of the many online learning resources that have emerged over the last two decades, offering physical and virtual textbook rental as well as remote tutoring and various other educational services.
But many educators see the lengths to which Chegg is willing to go to help students out are, shall we say… problematic.
But why does Chegg report to schools? What’s in it for them?
While this platform may have started out with noble intentions, many users have been taking advantage of the system to cheat on assignments and exams.
There are even claims that Chegg (see also ‘How To Become A Chegg Tutor‘) provides students a means of bypassing plagiarism-checking technology.
But what good is this clever workaround if Chegg rats you out to your school? Well, that just might happen!
Here’s what you need to know before you use Chegg to ensure you don’t end up in the principal’s office!
Does Chegg Have A Robust Privacy Policy?
Chegg has a pretty respectable privacy policy, and they’re incredibly forthright about it on their website. For the most part, Chegg will only pass information onto third parties if you give the platform permission to do so.
However, there are a number of stipulations listed in the Chegg privacy declaration that allow them to stretch their own rules in unique situations, one of which pertains to the Chegg Honor Code and academic dishonesty.
What Does The Chegg Honor Code Say About Reporting?
The honor code doesn’t mention reporting as such, but it does lay out in no uncertain terms a zero-tolerance policy for cheating.
If you are found to be cheating, Chegg administrators will locate the material used, remove it from the server, your account will be deleted, and you will be banned from the service.
Read the complete information about Chegg Honor Codes here.
Furthermore, official representatives of an educational authority are permitted to open an honor investigation with Chegg (see also our article on Chegg books) if they suspect you have been misusing resources in order to cheat.
Does Chegg Leak Information To Schools?
You might be relieved to hear that, generally speaking, Chegg doesn’t report to schools and typically doesn’t approve honor code investigations to high school staff no matter where they sit in the hierarchy.
But that doesn’t mean that your teachers can’t go rogue and carry out their own investigations.
Say, for example, your teacher composes their own homework papers, then finds one of the unique questions posted on Chegg, it’s clear that one of their students is attempting to fraudulently solicit answers.
Being that cheating on a high school homework assignment isn’t technically academic dishonesty in the strictest sense, Chegg may not punish users for breaking the rules, but once your school authorities are privy to your deviance, they’re not going to go easy!
Does Chegg Leak Information To Colleges & Universities?
The higher you take your education, the more immutable and encompassing the rules surrounding integrity become.
When you cheat on active college or university assignments or exams, for example, it’s officially classed as academic dishonesty and the consequences can be dire.
You could receive a temporary suspension, or permanent exclusion, any scholarships will be revoked, and in severe cases, you may even be fined.
As academic dishonesty is such a big deal at this stage in your education, Chegg has to take it very seriously and will release any helpful information to an educational authority carrying out an academic dishonesty investigation.
This means that there’s a good chance that you’ll be caught if you use Chegg to cheat on your college or university work, so keep it clean, folks!
What Is Considered Cheating When Using Chegg?
Okay, so we’ve established that Chegg doesn’t condone cheating (at least that’s what all the official paperwork says), but you may be a little unsure about what specifically constitutes cheating on the platform.
Will you be hung, drawn and quartered simply for having a Chegg user account, or are there some very specific actions that make you public enemy number one in your college or university?
Well, you’ll be happy to hear it’s the latter.
You can indeed use Chegg without the accusing finger seeking you out and shaming you, and as long as you avoid doing the following two things, you’re free to use Chegg resources to their fullest extent.
Plagiarizing Content
You cannot take information verbatim and use it in any of your work, whether it’s an important assignment that contributes to your final grade, or just a practice assignment to get you ready for the real thing.
At college/university level, plagiarism is plagiarism, and that’s that.
If you do use direct quotes, make sure that they’re presented as such and attributed to Chegg.
Soliciting answers to questions in active exams or for graded work
This is straight up getting other people to do your work for you.
It’s incredibly difficult to get away with, as all questions and answers are logged meticulously by Chegg, including time and date stamps.
What Chegg Resources Can I Use Without Cheating?
If you’re looking to do things the right way and use Chegg as an honest-to-goodness educational supplement, you can use the platform however you please.
The textbook renting service is particularly great, and feel free to use the online tutoring element of Chegg as well. As long as you’re only using it for personal studies, it’s all good.
That said, I’d recommend staying well away from the platform when you’re participating in an active exam or assignment, as Chegg’s association with cheaters may lead to you being unfairly tarred with the same brush.
Final Thoughts
Although Chegg does have a pretty decent privacy policy, they’re obliged to cooperate with educational authorities if you’re suspected of foul play, and if Chegg administrators find you first, you’ll be banned from the platform for cheating.
They’re less inclined to assist high school authorities, as academic dishonesty at this level isn’t quite as serious as it is in higher education, but your teachers can absolutely catch you out by engaging in their own sleuthing, so be careful out there!
My advice is of course to only ever use Chegg for good, as the risks are simply too high when abusing the service for an easy A.
Just put in the work, use Chegg to help you out along the way, and you can achieve your goals honestly.
