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School Spying On Students Via Webcam, Lawsuit Says
Filed under: In The News
The lawsuit alleges that Matsko told Michael Robbins, Blake's father, that "the School District in fact has the ability to remotely activate the webcam" on the school-issued laptops, and also that students and their families were not informed of this fact when the computers were issued.
LMSD says on its Web site that it has "been recognized as a leader in the effort to promote effective use of technology in the classroom," and that it was "among the first districts in Pennsylvania to provide a completely wireless network at all facilities."
The lawsuit seeks class action status to represent the 1,800 students that were issued laptops by LMSD, according to NBC News.
Late Thursday, the The Lower Merion School District posted this statement on its Web site:
"Last year, our district became one of the first school systems in the United States to provide laptop computers to all high school students. This initiative has been well received and has provided educational benefits to our students.
The District is dedicated to protecting and promoting student privacy. The laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. This feature has been deactivated effective today.
We regret if this situation has caused any concern or inconvenience among our students and families. The allegations are counter to everything that we stand for as a school and a community. We are reviewing the matter and will provide an additional update as soon as information becomes available."
Watch the full report from NBCPhiladelphia.
Related: Spy on the World from Your Own Computer
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 3)
2-18-2010 @ 5:10PM
Jim said...So the female school administrator remotely activated the camera and took stills of a minor male in his private home... what exactly was this woman hoping to see?
If 12 year old kids can get arrested and charged with a sex crime for sexting, surely this incident needs the same heavy hand.
Attempted sexual abuse of a minor perhaps!
Reply
2-19-2010 @ 11:01PM
Lauren said...maybe she wanted to see a male student. What does a male hope to see watching a female? same idea. no different. right or wrong-works both ways
2-19-2010 @ 11:25PM
Scott said...There is positively no reason why a camera is needed to locate a stolen or missing computer. There is free software available that can be used to track it down whenever the computer is online. I use this software on my clients PCs only with their permission. Students and parents at this school should have been informed of such software being installed and how it would be used. Especially about the cameras! If they had, I'm sure the majority would not have accepted the PCs.
2-20-2010 @ 2:56PM
CK said...INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST REPORT, February 20, 2010: This student probably reported the laptop as "lost". The security office snapped the image of the student still using the "lost" computer. The "lost" computer happened to be in his home at the time. When confronted, the parents saw a chance to soak the school for "damages". This story will not be reported by today's "journalists".
2-21-2010 @ 11:20AM
CK said...INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST REPORT, February 20, 2010: This student probably reported the laptop as "lost". The security office snapped the image of the student still using the "lost" computer. The "lost" computer happened to be in his home at the time. When confronted, the parents saw a chance to soak the school for "damages". This story will not be reported by today's "journalists".
2-20-2010 @ 3:19PM
Jim said..."probably reported"
Some JOURNALISTIC ability you have there! ROFL.
2-18-2010 @ 5:14PM
mike quick said...Thats pretty sick.i can imagine what kind of stuff must have been seen that should have been private..Im sure more than one of these school adminisrators probably got off seein their students with no clothes on....sick freaks.
Reply
2-18-2010 @ 5:15PM
Heather said...What idiots! What if they have accidently caught kids changing thier clothes and/or someone hacks the system?
Reply
2-18-2010 @ 5:30PM
2BFree31 said...This is what our futures are going to be. Gives people a lot to think about when it comes to technology.
ANYONE with the knowledge can access your webcam to spy on you.
Scientists giving the government ideas to mandate implanting rice size microchips into people as law.
Electrontic everything. It's scary.
Reply
2-18-2010 @ 7:10PM
Mayday82 said...After further investigation on the School District website, it appears this story is a gross distortion and misrepresentation. The webcam security feature was activated only once at the request of the student who owned the laptop, which had been stolen. The webcam image was used to identify the thief and now the parents of the thief are trying to evade the theft charges with a frivolous lawsuit. American legal system hijacked again with the help of sloppy reporting...
Reply
2-18-2010 @ 9:49PM
really said...Someone is making the rounds defending the school. If what you say is true, then it is appalling if the court system entertains this suit if the plaintiff's are going in with unclean hands and the parents should be ashamed of their son's conduct.
But really, even if the court filing appears to state it is his school laptop that took the photo isn't true, the fact that the school district did not disclose privacy issues accordingly when passing these laptops out to 1800+ students is a gross error on their part. Really, I expect better conduct from adults than I do from a high school student.
Reply
2-19-2010 @ 4:51PM
phil said...As you say..."If what you say is true, then it is appalling if the court system entertains this suit if the plaintiff's are going in with unclean hands..." Some Scumbag Lawyer will find a Scumbag judge to hear ANY case. It's all about the money. Sad, but true.
2-18-2010 @ 8:56PM
Jim said...I went to their site as well. Nothing there said that the boy whose picture was taken was a thief. In fact, it didn't address anything beyond giving the reason for having the software installed which allows for remote operation: http://www.lmsd.org/sections/schools/default.php?m=&t=hhs&p=hhs_today_anno&id=1137
If you found something different, please share the link! I call BS om your report. You must work for the school district.
Here is the REAl news:
"The Associated Press reports that the lawsuit alleges that the cameras captured images of Harriton High School students and their families as they undressed and in other compromising situations." http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/02/school-district-accused-of-issuing-webcam-laptops-to-spy-on-students/1
More news here. NONE OF IT matches what Mayday is saying.
http://news.google.com/news/more?um=1&cf=all&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dV53VNMjD69ehPMHWKq0yqV2b5EGM
Reply
2-18-2010 @ 9:59PM
really said...I was able to read the lawsuit, you can find it on scribd (sp?), it only alleges that there could be photos of kids and their families in compromising positions, maybe even in stages of undress for students that kept the computer in their rooms. But doesn't indicate any other photos existing outside of the one named in the suit.
One thing I don't understand is why is this not something that a prosecutor is addressing since the lawsuit alleges the breaking of various federal and state laws? By this time couldn't the school district have destroyed pertinent information?
I have to mention that it is really interesting that this school district is already in the middle of another lawsuit related to racism. Nice. Sending kids from one school to another for no other reason than possible racist reasons...makes you wonder if the administrators are abusing the system on kids they have a problem with. Geez, and they all care so much about our children, if they are the right color and act the right way.
Reply
2-24-2010 @ 1:32PM
janicecbw said...The reason no state or federal charges were brought is because this is Pennsylvania.
2-19-2010 @ 6:07PM
Sally G said...Lessons learned: Always be suspicious of things given free. And duct tape over any camera lens that is included. I consider the district's actions to comprise a violation of the 4th amendment of the constitution, which protects the public from unreasonable search and seizure.
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2-19-2010 @ 4:47PM
Len Robertson said...Looking past the fact that the Vice Principal of that Pennsylvania failed her IQ test spectacularly, I don't think George Orwell ever imagined Big Brother as a pedaphile freak.
But, then Orwell never imagined how stupid public school bureaucrats can be. Remember Dr. Lawrence J. Peter of the Peter Principle, "people are promoted upward until they are totally incompetent"? It was based on his study of school administrations.
Reply
2-20-2010 @ 7:03PM
cbart50 said...people don't "fail" IQ tests, and the Peter Principle says people rise to the level of their incompetence, not until they're "totally" incompetent
2-19-2010 @ 5:14PM
Nico Toscani said...All I can say is it sure must be nice to go to a school that can afford to hand out laptops to all its students.
Reply
2-19-2010 @ 6:52PM
Judy said...The school I work out has had the one-on-one program for the last four years and it is wonderful. They are so beneficial to the learning process. I find it hard to believe that people have the time or energy to use the computers to spy on students. If the story is true, shame on them. It appears that someone needs to have his/her computer taken away and I don't mean the kids.