Schools use Webcams to spy on Kids at Home

[madman]

A class action lawsuit filed in Federal Court in Philadelphia has shed light on a secret surveillance program targeting Americans, but this particular operation is not being run by the FBI or the NSA. It’s being run by the Lower Merion School District in Philadelphia, PA.

Big Brother is watching you 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 a high school student 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.

If true, these allegations are about as creepy as they come. Most kids have their laptop in their room while getting dressed, having private discussions with friends & family, and so on. And it’s hardly necessary to mention the habit of regular masturbation of the average high school student which in many cases will involve using the very laptop. The idea that a school district would not only spy on its students’ clickstreams and emails (bad enough), but also use these machines as AV bugs is purely horrifying.



Schools are in an absolute panic about kids divulging too much online, worried about pedos and marketers and embarrassing photos that will haunt you when you run for office or apply for a job in 10 years. They tell kids to treat their personal details as though they were precious. But when schools take that personal information, indiscriminately invading privacy (and, of course, punishing students who use proxies and other privacy tools to avoid official surveillance), they send a much more powerful message: your privacy is worthless and you shouldn’t try to protect it.

http://boingboing.net/2010/02/17/school-used-student.html

[Kaius]

Thats pathetic and uncalled for.

1. Their breaking the law by doing so. Schools complain about childrens safety on the internet and people that could possibly be online predators and their doing that? Totally unethical and unsafe.
2. They have no right to punish the child for what they do in their own home, its up to their parents to give whatever punishment they see fit.

[nick]

That is completely sick, disgusting and totally wrong.

Matt - its good practice to link the story source.

[Giles]

Something tells me this isn't true, as it's most likely illegal (Yes, even in the USA).

If it is true though I think it's ridiculous, it's a serious invasion of privacy. If there's any pedophiles in that school then the students are fucked.

I don't know about the USA, but here when we acquired our school laptops (Only about 14 of us because of the IT course we're taking) we had to sign a contract stating that we wouldn't use it for any inappropriate activities, anything illegal or give away the software.

Surely the school 'spying' via the webcam is illegal, classed as an inappropriate activity and a breach of the data protection act. Probably some form of privacy law too.

Data Protection Act. (1984, 1988, 1998, 2003)
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations (2003)

[Ryhanna]

I heard about this...
It's just not right and whoever had the idea should be sacked.
Im being totally 100% cereal. (pun)
No, but seriously, it's gross. And I had no idea schools could punish students for what they do at home? Im still pretty sure they CAN'T!?

[Giles]

I heard about this...
It's just not right and whoever had the idea should be sacked.
Im being totally 100% cereal. (pun)
No, but seriously, it's gross. And I had no idea schools could punish students for what they do at home? Im still pretty sure they CAN'T!?

The only way they can is if it's against the law and the parents don't appear to be taking action. Even then they should just back off, it's got nothing to do with them. It wouldn't surprise me if the guy whose idea this was is a pedophile...

[Hatsune Miku]

That's just disgusting.

I read a little more from the source:

your privacy is worthless and you shouldn't try to protect it.

Update: The school district admits that student laptops were shipped with software for covertly activating their webcams, but denies wrongdoing.

You deny wrongdoing? Are you fucking retarded? (No offensive) You're spying on kids! Even worse, you're spying on kids through a damn webcam on a laptop

[littlerascal]

This is wrong, however I can see one good thing coming from something like this. The only way I'd ever see this as being acceptable is if it's done when child abuse is suspected. How can a school punish you for what you do away from school? If the laptop is school property, I suppose you could get in trouble for what you are doing with the laptop (which obviously makes sense) but using the webcam to watch them?

[Hatsune Miku]

I suppose you could get in trouble for what you are doing with the laptop

No, Just no

[Antares]

Guess kids shouldn't use their webcams for illegal things when they belong to the school...

and this is a true story, has a wiki page and everything

[Iron Man]

Creeper Alert!

[tripolar]

This is beyond wrong, and whoever in charge of this operation is done. Either the school district will feel pressure from the public and take action or legal action will be done.

This is a complete violation of privacy, most schools have you sign off a tech contract so you can use the schools computers and internet. Not having any information about the webcams is wrong.

The Lower Marion School District could have got away with everything but they made the awful mistake of punishing someone then saying pretty much that they wire tapped the student's home with the laptop. This will be a ugly court case, and the school district will have to pay for what they did.

For no reason what so ever can the district even attempt to say they did to make sure the laptops were used correctly. Easily software can be installed that can limit what can be done on the computer and on the internet.

[Perseus]

Guess kids shouldn't use their webcams for illegal things when they belong to the school...

and this is a true story, has a wiki page and everything

Are you saying that they brought it upon themselves? Because I can't understand what you mean by your post, lol.

[littlerascal]

No, Just no

Yes, just yes...the laptop doesn't belong to the student, so why shouldn't you get in trouble for doing an illegal activity on it? Like renting a car...you can't just do whatever you want with it..

[Soccer Girl 13]

omg my school laptop has a webcam on it :| Thats just scary, Them spying on everyone and omg i take my laptop nearly everywhere :/ Geez! Who ever had this idea should be shot! And i would LOVE to do it! I reckon the department of education should get a life and stop spying on students!

[Suicune]

That's just wrong in all sense of the word. Sure it's the school's property but I mean come on, really? You don't just spy on the students like that (Or at all!) I hope the school gets what it deserves.

(Hey, I would just tape some paper over the webcam if that were me.)

[INFERNO]

I'm going to assume this is actually real, and if it is, then I'm wondering when that school and its admins will get sued back to the stone age. What students do at home doesn't matter, it's off school property and the school has no right to invade the students' privacy just to get a peek at what's going on. Punishing the students for using proxies and such is unthinkable. Denying any wrongdoing, as senseless as it sounds, is something you'd expect from the school trying to back-peddle their way out of the crater-sized hole they dug themselves into. Unfortunately, it's only digging them in further.

The photograph that the vice-principal took can be used for evidence for punishing the student but then again, it's also evidence to use against the vice-principal of the numerous laws he/she must admit to breaking.

What I'm curious on is whether these students knew the webcam software was uploaded and whether the parents knew or tried to interfere. The reason for my curiousity is that the article states students were punished for using proxies and webcam photos were used for punishments to be dealt also. If this happened to me back in high-school, not only would I complain to the school, I'd also complain to my parents and perhaps contact the board of education and the local newspapers. In other words, bring up a huge shitstorm then, if the school persisted, lawyers get involved.

Once again, if this is a true event, I'm waiting to see how much the school admins will be sued for as I expect it to be some amazing numbers.

[turkish]

invading privacy..not good. unanimously agreed by all

[Giles]

Guess kids shouldn't use their webcams for illegal things when they belong to the school...

In the article it doesn't actually say they were using the webcam for anything illegal. It just says "improper behavior in his home", nothing to do with the webcam or even the laptop itself.

Yes, just yes...the laptop doesn't belong to the student, so why shouldn't you get in trouble for doing an illegal activity on it? Like renting a car...you can't just do whatever you want with it..

What I said above applies too.
Sure, you shouldn't do anything illegal on it if it isn't yours (which it doesn't say he has...) - is that a fair reason for the administrators to be able to watch you whenever they like though?

[2D]

is that a fair reason for the administrators to be able to watch you whenever they like though?

Nop.

[quartermaster]

Using property other than the specified purpose as set by the proprietor of the said property puts the proprietor well within their rights to take action for misuse. However, using said property to spy on a person is unlawful and a violation a person's privacy. By the school's logic, an administrator from the school could take pictures or video footage of students from school owned camera equipment that the students took home for a school project. Alternatively, a school administrator could spy on students in adjacent homes from school surveillance cameras and then have them prosecuted accordingly. There are so many things legally wrong about this case that I do not believe the school can even imagine winning this case. Of course, I have been many a time shocked by the ruling of judges and juries who seem to believe in some constitutional pretense of "order" and "authority" over "rights" and "justice."

[Kahn]

Oh god.. Are they watching me type this right now? Whatever I don't care. *Takes off pants and shirt*

[Giles]

Oh god.. Are they watching me type this right now? Whatever I don't care. *Takes off pants and shirt*

That's what I thought when I used mine today. I've put some paper over the web cam now though :). It's not as if they'd want to watch me anyway.

[Alfred Pennyworth]

jeez. that really would suck. that would probably make me create a whole new system on a partition on the hd, or at least a piece of black paper taped over the webcam. but seriously. if my school did that, i would have my parents pull me out IMMEDIATELY.

[DoveGreySands]

That's disgraceful, i'd sue and wouldn't be suprised if other families did...

[jessie]

ya well its a program called one to one... most the kids at mi school put a sticker over the kam as soon as we got them.... they tell the kids that they cant acces them less you have the kam on.... but they lied about that as soon as we were told we were getting them 2 teachers accidently told... and they are trying to get all of the US on laptops between 2010 and 2020... they are not worth it though i promise... i most of the kids in IN that have them are grades went down we failed all of first semester bc of problems with the laptops... so vote against it not for it when it gets to your school!

[jessie]

they listend wile teens had sex too... and they are getting sued

[steezypeezy]

that's just plain creepy

[Nelson]

Ewwwies, thats gross, knowing what i do infront of my laptop xDD

[Mattasaur94]

Wait... whut? O_o
*puts shirt back on*

[lengthy_brochure]

I have deleted the contents of this post

[Evermore]

Fuck it. Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave.

[Kahn]

Fuck it. Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave.

Greatest post in this thread so far. I just put black duck tape over my Cam.