Big Brother - High School Edition

Lawsuit: US school spied on students via laptops
AP

PHILADELPHIA — A suburban Philadelphia school district used school-issued laptop webcams to spy on students at home, potentially catching them and their families in compromising situations, a family claims in a federal lawsuit.

Officials at the school district can activate webcams on the computers without students' knowledge or permission, the lawsuit alleges. Plaintiffs Michael and Holly Robbins suspect the cameras captured students and family members as they undressed and in other embarrassing situations, according to the suit.

Lower Merion School District officials said the laptops "contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops," and that the feature was deactivated Thursday.

"We can categorically state that we are and have always been committed to protecting the privacy of our students," he said.

Tom Halpern, a 15-year-old sophomore from Wynnewood, said students are "pretty disgusted" and have started putting masking tape over their computer webcams and microphones.

"This is just bogus," Halpern said. "I just think it's really despicable that they have the ability to just watch me all the time."

The accusations amount to potentially illegal electronic wiretapping, said Witold J. Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, which is not involved in the case.

"School officials cannot, any more than police, enter into the home either electronically or physically without an invitation or a warrant," Walczak said.

A school district statement released late Thursday said the tracking feature would not be reactivated "without express written notification to all students and families."

The affluent district prides itself on its technology initiatives, which include giving laptops to each of the approximately 2,300 students at its two high schools.

Superintendent Christopher W. McGinley did not immediately return a message left Thursday by The Associated Press.

The Robbinses said they learned of the alleged webcam images when Lindy Matsko, an assistant high school principal, told their son that school officials thought he had engaged in improper behavior at home. The behavior was not specified in the suit.

Matsko "cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in minor plaintiff's personal laptop issued by the school district," the lawsuit states.

Matsko later confirmed to Michael Robbins that the school had the ability to activate the webcams remotely, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday and which seeks class-action status.

Invasion of privacy my ass. If you ask me these teachers have to take hell from these students all day, they should get to pay back the favor and take some revenger. This is really no different than when Mr. Hand went to Spicoli's house and taught him history during the End of School Dance. If Spicoli wouldn't have acted like an assclown during class he wouldn't have drew Mr. Hand's ire.

I'm sure the good kids aren't getting spyed on at home, just the worthless punks. These are kids were talking about. They shouldn't have rights. And as much as they're sexting these days you wouldn't think this would bother them. For a segment of society that begs for privacy so much they sure do spread around a lot of photos of their junk.