School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

[Mr Kleen]

School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home

According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.

more info

and more info

[Sabre]

[Cereb Daithi]

I don't even need to rant on this one. Everyone is thinking the same thing. This is like so many layers of wrong. I'm curious to see how this develops. I'm also curious to see if any sort of papers were signed that mention this anywhere in it when they agreed to take the school's laptops...

[Mr Kleen]

there's a great quote about "people reveal their true character when they think no one is watching." how will young people ever develope character when they're under constant threat of monitoring?

[drwrx]

what shocks me most is that someone thought that:
1. they could even do something like this.
2. they would think they could get away with it.
3. that it wouldn't blow-up in their face when word got out.

[Sabre]

what shocks me most is that someone thought that:
1. they could even do something like this.
2. they would think they could get away with it.
3. that it wouldn't blow-up in their face when word got out.

true.dat

[complacent]

Just when I thought it was getting difficult to feel surprised/disgusted at random bits of news.

I can't fathom the argument that claims this is good for a child's development.

rat bastardos.

[scheherazade]

rat bastardos.

poor rats.

-scheherazade

[Mr Kleen]

CNN picks up the story

[Cereb Daithi]

Mistake?? So you mean to say "Whoops.. sorry... we forgot to mention that we were watching your children in their rooms and even taking photographs as they do inappropriate things. That was a mistake. Our bad."

It is unclear what the boy was doing in his room

[Sabre]

[Mr Kleen]

Engadget: Spying school district update: turned on webcams 42 times, FBI isn't sure that's legal

the referenced Washington Post article

[Mr Kleen]

"Spying" school agrees to preserve evidence in Laptopgate

[Cereb Daithi]

Additionally, a number of parents whose kids go to LMSD have created a Facebook group to discuss the issues (many of which do not support the privacy argument at all as long as their kids get a good education, it seems).

Am I the only one shocked, disgusted, and almost horrified by this?