Philly-Area School District Remotely Activating Webcams to Spy on Students at Home

This is almost too bad to be believed:

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.

According to the complaint (pdf), the district has issued a laptop to all students and never informed them that the webcams could be activated remotely. The suit alleges violations of state and federal law. This is a civil suit, but wiretapping is also a crime under both state and federal law. If the allegations are true, someone's going to jail.

Comments

[Glomarization]

This is a civil suit, but wiretapping is also a crime under both state and federal law.

So's child pornography. What a mess.

[zenpundit]

This story is not at all surprising.

Educational institutions, and particularly school districts - and I speak here from lengthy professional experience - hire ppl who often have two characteristics:

a) A control freak personality and a lack of respect for opinions that differ from their own.

b) Little or no knowledge of the principles of the US Constitution, due process or statues governing school personnel acting as agents of the State.

These characteristics are even more pronounced among school administrators.