PA Schools Use Remote Webcams to Spy on Kids - at Home!

This just makes my skin crawl.  A class action lawsuit has been filed against a wealthy school district in Pennsylvania that passed out free laptops to its students and then used a remote-activated webcam to spy on the youngsters at home.  The practice came to light when an assistant principal confronted Blake Robbins, a 10th grader at Harriton High, about "improper behavior" in his bedroom - and then brazenly showed him pictures taken from the boy's school-issued laptop.  Included in the lawsuit is the upscale Lower Merion School District of Philadelphia. 

From the Toronto Star:  Assistant principal Lindy Matsko "cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in" Robbins' school-issued laptop, the lawsuit says.  Blake's parents, Michael and Holly Robbins, filed the lawsuit Feb. 11 on behalf of all 1,800 students at Lower Merion's schools. The lawsuit alleges the webcams violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of privacy, Pennsylvania common law, the U.S. Civil Rights Act, and a variety of other laws.  In his welcome to students, posted on the district website, school district superintendent Dr. Christopher McGinley speaks glowingly of the program to give every student their own laptop and create "an authentic, mobile, 21st century learning environment." The program "ensures that all students have 24/7 access to school-based resources."  The Robbins lawsuit contends the district also had 24/7 access to the students "by the unauthorized, inappropriate and indiscriminate remote activation of a webcam."

Cory Doctorow writes on Boing Boing:  I don't know about you, but I often have the laptop in the room while I'm getting dressed, having private discussions with my family, and so on. The idea that a school district would not only spy on its students' clickstreams and emails (bad enough), but also use these machines as AV bugs is purely horrifying.  Schools are in an absolute panic about kids divulging too much online, worried about pedos and marketers and embarrassing photos that will haunt you when you run for office or apply for a job in 10 years. They tell kids to treat their personal details as though they were precious.  But when schools take that personal information, indiscriminately invading privacy (and, of course, punishing students who use proxies and other privacy tools to avoid official surveillance), they send a much more powerful message: your privacy is worthless and you shouldn't try to protect it.

Whatever school officials decided that this was a good idea should not only be fired, they should face criminal charges.  Left unchallenged, this could start a terrible precedence.  Big Brother would not only be watching your children, he might be watching them unclothed in the privacy of their bedrooms.  And there's no justification for that.  (Hat Tip: Raw Story)

Comments

[Joker]

This is frankly disgusting, the school has no right to invade peoples homes and privacy like this.

[Mark]

Pedophiles. I'm surprised the Catholic Church hasn't started using this idea.

[Joshua J.]

I agree this is bullshit! this violates our rights and someone should be punished! schools are for teaching not spying!!!

[adamant]

If the behavior captured was masturbation, then the school district is actually culpable of creating, owning, and distributing child pornography.

Somebody should contact the FBI.

[Amanda]

Even if this was just audio eavesdropping without the video, it would still be sick. But taking a screen cap and confronting a kid with it? Really, really vile.

[Alison]

wow thats just sick, i get dressed and get naked to change in my room, i would hate to be watched like that. i would feel so used.