School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home

School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home

www.boingboing.net

According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence.

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I can understand concerns over what students do on school computers, I can even understand a degree of control over the laptops they are permitted to take home, but going this far is just miles beyond absurd. I can only imagine the backlash this will bring about as there is no way the school can explain away their actions. This makes me wonder if there are other enterprising schools out there who may be doing just this and not getting caught in the act.

www.boingboing.net
(visit the link for the full news article)

Call me a perv, but I can't help wondering how many of these administrators happened to not click off the surveillance when the teens started undressing for the evening.

Beyond invasion of privacy, we need a new "Trojan horse" law (or special circumstance) that would make it illegal to secret a deliberate surveillance device under the guise of another product.

It's getting to be a very wacky world out there, kids!

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