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School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:22 pm
by Mr Kleen
School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home
BoingBoing wrote: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.
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Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:29 pm
by Sabre
:shock: :notcool:

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:34 pm
by 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...

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:46 pm
by 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?

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 8:22 pm
by 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.

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:35 pm
by Sabre
drwrx wrote: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

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:46 pm
by 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.

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 10:53 am
by scheherazade
complacent wrote:rat bastardos.
poor rats.

-scheherazade

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 3:35 pm
by Mr Kleen

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:44 pm
by 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."

:roll:
It is unclear what the boy was doing in his room
:jerkit: :lol:

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 7:46 pm
by Sabre
:rolllaugh:

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:19 pm
by Mr Kleen

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:11 pm
by Mr Kleen

Re: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 1:51 pm
by 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).

:wtf:

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