School District Uses Laptop webcams to spy on students

[snwbrdr435]

These people are scum and need to get what they deserve http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articl ... 18-ON.html

Quote:

PHILADELPHIA - Lower Merion School District officials brag that they give every one of their 1,800 high-schoolers laptop computers to "ensure that all students have 24-7 access to school-based resources."

Instead, they ensured they got a 24-7 sneak peek into students' private lives by secretly monitoring webcams embedded in the laptops to spy on teens and their families at home, according to a federal, class-action lawsuit filed this week in Philadelphia.

The suit alleges the remotely controlled covert cameras violate everything from the Fourth Amendment to wiretapping, electronic communications and computer fraud laws.

It was filed Tuesday on behalf of Harriton High student Blake J. Robbins and all Lower Merion students by Robbins' parents Michael and Holly Robbins of Penn Valley, Pa.

Named as defendants are the school district, the district's nine-member Board of Directors and Superintendent Christopher W. McGinley.

The Robbinses seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as an end to the "spying," according to the 17-page complaint.

The family first learned of the embedded webcams on Nov. 11, when Harriton High's Assistant Principal Lindy Matsko reprimanded Blake Robbins for "improper behavior in his home," according to the lawsuit. Matsko cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam on the boy's school-issued laptop.

The lawsuit does not specify why the photograph was objectionable.

Because the webcam can capture anything happening in the room where the laptop is, district personnel could illicitly observe plenty more than a student's online activity, the lawsuit alleges.

"Many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, in various stages of dress or undress," the lawsuit charges.

The Robbinses' attorney, Mark Haltzman, couldn't be reached Thursday morning. McGinley and District Spokesman Doug Young did not immediately return telephone calls for comment Thursday.

[numbnuts240]

i'd be out for blood.

[szh]

i'd be out for blood.

You bet! In a heartbeat.

Z

[DrifterXRPS13]

i just heard about this this morning....This is gonna be huge!!! among the things they forgot to listis probably child pornography.

[RobPaulson]

ya wow... wtf were they thinking... this is going to be a huge deal... the people responsible will be destroyed forever. as well they should be.

[breadbox]

Free Laptops!!!! Where's mine? I might have an exhibitionist streak in me.

That's really funny someone thought this was a good idea. You think it just worked on time capture and just streamed images to a server somewhere or the asst principle had a list and was at home naked clicking through his or her own personal webcam network?

[car nut]

He was smoking weed from what I know. LM claimed they were using the webcam to try and locate the laptop which they thought was stolen and saw him smoking. They'll definitely lose the suit.

This is a perfect example of why Lower Merion sucks.

[HashiriyaS14]

WOW

HUGE Lawsuit. HUGE.

I'd burn that motherf**ker down.

[RCA]

Why are schools doing the dumbest things. They are institutions for furthering education and yet the people running it are capable of such stupidity.

EDIT:I guess rummaging though some ones Facebook wasn't enough, now they need to rummage through their rooms via web cam

[breadbox]

Because using money on Laptops instead of paying teachers is really effective.

[S13_love]

Big Brother is watching you.

In all seriousness...this is f***ed up...

Edit: Let's say if I had a daughter that received one of these laptops...and then I heard that the principal was spying on her via webcam...I would find him and kick the ever living s*** out of him......and probably break both his knees and ankles.

[numbnuts240]

Because using money on Laptops instead of paying teachers is really effective.

a lot of ct schools dropped their pe programs

[breadbox]

Fat kids For everyone, Hooray! If they're lucky the buses will stop coming to their house and the can get exercise getting to school in the morning.

[troskinatior]

Wow that is seriously messed up. I can understand if the camreas are on during school( which is still messed up) but at your own home... I would woop some a**.

It's kind of scary that the people that thought of this is teaching.

[Chaotic_Warlord]

Gotta love Philly, the people around here are so F'd up that stuff like this is pretty much normal. Before anyone says that Lower Merrion isn't Philly, it is one of Philly's 'burbs. here are the top 5 stories in Philly right now.

1) Lower Merrion school district spies on students with school supplied laptop/webcams

2) Pennsauken man throws his 3 month baby off the Ben Franklin Bridge b/c he was mad at baby's mama.

3) Philly cop charged in the murder of his neighbor's son.

4) Phillies progress @ spring training

5) Oh and we're in for more snow.

Yeah this city is so F'd and these are kind of bland for what normally goes on around here.

[dusred]

Woah. This is the second time I've got to say this today. . . .

Homeschooling FTW!

[troskinatior]

Gotta love Philly, the people around here are so F'd up that stuff like this is pretty much normal. Before anyone says that Lower Merrion isn't Philly, it is one of Philly's 'burbs. here are the top 5 stories in Philly right now.

1) Lower Merrion school district spies on students with school supplied laptop/webcams

2) Pennsauken man throws his 3 month baby off the Ben Franklin Bridge b/c he was mad at baby's mama.

3) Philly cop charged in the murder of his neighbor's son.

4) Phillies progress @ spring training

5) Oh and we're in for more snow.

Yeah this city is so F'd and these are kind of bland for what normally goes on around here.

Yeah but you have philly cheese steaks, I think that makes up for it.

[car nut]

Let's say if I had a daughter that received one of these laptops...and then I heard that the principal was spying on her via webcam...I would find him and kick the ever living s*** out of him......and probably break both his knees and ankles.

Apparently a bunch of girls were like "I get changed in front of my laptop all the time WTF".

[PoorManQ45]

The description is a little iffy.

It is possible that they don't remote in to the webcam, but instead just have a VPN setup to be able to access files.

If that is the case, if done properly, a usage warning could be created that would allow the school to access all files on the computer.

These types of agreements are used all the time. They hold up all the time in wrongful termination cases, so why not here?

These agreements, when implemented, come up and require you to agree before you can log in to windows. Basically it's a terms of use.

*edit* I don't know why the school would punish someone for something they did at home, that's just stupid. Unless it was meant as a punishment for wrongful use of the computer.

[PoorManQ45]

Also, when they say "covert camera" are referring to a hidden camera or the webcam built in to the computer?

If it's a hidden camera then ignore what I said.

[93coupe]

It is s*** like this that makes me hesitant about being a father. I know one day I will be choking someone out over them being totally inappropriate towards my child.

Who the f*** thought this was a good idea? How did someone not say "hmm, maybe secretly watching kids is not so smart."

[Chaotic_Warlord]

Yeah but you have philly cheese steaks, I think that makes up for it.

Sure if you enjoy being a fatass who will die of heart disease, we also have the Wing Bowl, again the only good things to come out of Philly are really really really bad for you.

Though we do have WAWA and well that's probably worth living in this s*** hole of a city.

[93coupe]

I <3 Wawa.

[Dattebayo]

We have Wawa here, too. Philly isn't special.

[troskinatior]

Sure if you enjoy being a fatass who will die of heart disease, we also have the Wing Bowl, again the only good things to come out of Philly are really really really bad for you.

Though we do have WAWA and well that's probably worth living in this s*** hole of a city.

I'd rather die a happy fat a** instead of counting how many calories I have to have every day, and if I go over that amount I gotta throwup.

Wawa's hogies are the BOMB, but Jersey Mikes are better.

[Chaotic_Warlord]

WAWA is a Philly thing, yeah you guys might have it but it got it's start and it's headquarters are right outside of Philly. As far as who's hoagies are better, I'd put that money on Capriotti's or Primo's any day of the week. WaWa coffes is the best there is though with out a doubt.

[Dattebayo]

TBH, I like Sheetz better. But Wawa is all over MD and even down in VA and NC, on the state routes...

[dusred]

Looks like the school is making an attempt to redeem themselves.

Read here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587034,00.html

[PoorManQ45]

This is going to get interesting.

If you steal something, which it sounds like what occurred, and that device has cameras and a tracking device would it be illegal to use those devices while the object is in the privacy of someone's home?

[Dattebayo]

Looks like the school is making an attempt to redeem themselves.

Hardly, it looks like they just lawyered up. Looks like this one might go all the way to the supreme court!