School Spycam Situation
There is no doubt you have heard about this story. I am reluctant to post about it, as it is a prime example of how certain monitoring software can be used for bad purposes. Though the school is claiming a feature installed on student-issued laptops that would allow them to peer through the installed webcam to see how school equipment was being used would only be used with good intentions, there is no way that is what really happened…
The big issue here is that the schools did not make it known that the spycam ability was enabled on their laptops. Had they done so, none of this would have happened. It is their computer; they can put whatever they want on it. But when the software they install enables them to look into the bedroom and house of the user, and they don’t make that ability know, they have blatantly crossed a line. There is no arguing that.
There are three different articles here for you to check out. CLICK THE HEADLINES FOR THE FULL PAGE…
February 19, 2010
Lawsuit Alleges School Used Webcams to Lurk in Students’ Homes
By Katherine Noyes, TechNewsWorld
The school accused of remotely activating computer webcams to spy on students in their homes has denied the charges, although it acknowledged that the functionality was available for the purpose of recovering stolen computers. If the school actually engaged in spying, even with the aim of protecting students, “the administrators themselves became the predators,” said tech attorney Ray Van Dyke.
The FBI and a Philadelphia-area prosecutor are looking into whether a school district broke the law when it remotely activated cameras on school-owned laptops and watched students in their homes.
February 22, 2010
School Spycam Case Raises FBI Eyebrows
Jared Newman, PC World (Blog Post)
Somebody’s fibbing in the case of a Pennsylvania school that using Webcams in loaned laptops, and now the FBI may have to sort out the truth.
CNN reports that federal authorities are investigating the case of 15-year-old Blake Robbins v. the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania, a class action lawsuit uncovered by BoingBoing last week. The FBI hasn’t confirmed the investigation; CNN’s report comes from an anonymous police official, who says the feds will look into whether federal wiretap or computer intrusion laws were violated.
March 9th, 2010 at 11:45 AM
[...] Some follow-up on the School Spycam Situation… [...]