Posted on 02/17/2010 5:28:43 PM PST by CJBernard
The complaint, filed by minor high school student Blake Robbins and his parents, alleges that the school district has been spying on the activities of students and students’ families through the “indiscriminant use of and ability to remotely activate the webcams incorporated into each laptop issued to students,” all without the knowledge or consent of any of the students or parents involved.
How the capability was discovered should be enough to put any who value civil liberties and privacy on the edge of their seat. From the complaint (emphasis mine):
"On November 11, 2009, Plaintiffs were for the first time informed of the above-mentioned capability and practice by the School District when Lindy Matsko, an Assistant Principal at Harriton High School, informed minor Plaintiff that the School District was of the belief that minor Plaintiff was engaged in improper behavior in his home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in minor Plaintiff’s personal laptop issued by the School District."
(Excerpt) Read more at americasright.com ...
It actually should be pretty easy to determine that. The angle of the picture, the background, the resolution and the source information should prove one way or another... also the district isn’t denying this. In fact apparently the school said up front that they took this picture.
And speaking as a parent, although my daughter is less than a year old, it wouldn’t matter to me if the picture was from his friends or his school, if my kid were misbehaving he’d get punished. The behavior and the spying are two seperate matters.
What has happened to posters on the FR? 90+ posts and only 2 posts mentioned the key element in this?
NO SEARCH WARRANTS!
Everyone involved in this program should be at bare minimum fired and barred from ever holding any job/position in the public sector.
I don’t agree with suing the district as you end up suing yourself HOWEVER the parents should have no problem finding a sleazy ambulance chaser to go after the individuals involved.
The “thought police” have been successful in banning certain thoughts in the commission of a crime (100% sure more bad thoughts will be added).
I propose a 5 fold increase in time to be served and monetary fines for any crime which involves a breach of the US Constitution and just for the fun of it remove the exemption for our elected officials.
You wrote:”We have liberties in this country. The end doesn’t justify the means EVER”
I agree however the progressive/socialist/communist followers of Sol Alinsky ALL believe that the “ends Do justify the means”. That is why it is so hard to debate these people. You have to follow the rules while they can lie or do anything as long as it furthers their goals.
You know that good ole Sol Alinsky who Chris Mathews called “our hero”.
That's exactly what we're saying here. No one here is suggesting the school is monitoring students 24/7. That would be impossible. What seems clear is that school employees had the capability to view laptop users, and apparently the students and their families didn't know.
it is interesting that a prosecutor has apparently declined to get involved even though if what is alleged actually occurred, the school would have committed numerous state and federal crimes.
That IS interesting. Maybe what the school did isn't considered a crime because the laptops were school property...?
What was my position? I stated it and it is in line with my tagline. It is a number of people here who have initiated a presumption based on the questions asked.
Thank you.
Never look a gift laptop in the camera.
What’s shocking is the fact that the Liberals running this school apparently no qualms at all about spying on their studets.
Then we would all see the rape on YouTube, but the perpetrator would go free since the evidence would be completely inadmissible.
Actually, if it turned up anywhere on the web, taped, etc. It would be child pornagraphy.
They might try to use that argument, but it still wouldn't justify random spying on kids.
I would imagine that they'd have to have a report of the laptop stolen or missing to be able to engage that feature.
I agree that the progressives have this weapon in their arsenal. It just bothers me to see someone on FR supporting it.
I said I hoped you were kidding and you said yes and no. If you don’t want to be misunderstood please clarify.
Your questions were *end justifies the means* questions.
If you don’t want to be misunderstood, it behooves you to make yourself clearer. And it wasn’t just one post where you posited that position, but two.
So, what’s your intent here? Are you baiting people? Or do you feel that it’s your responsibility to make us think? We can do that just fine on our own, thank you, and I doubt that anyone who replied to you would feel any different of the gross and illegal and unwarranted invasion of privacy even if they did find some crime going on.
What kind of people do you think we are?
I thought that's what they were suggesting, and like you I considered that while not impossible, it was highly unlikely due to the expense involved. Indeed to even have the capability to control web cams remotely would require installing some not inexpensive software on each and every one of the computers before they are handed out. Again, not impossible, but unlikely, especially considering the potential for abuse and the resultant lawsuits that would result, not only for the school district but for the software company and the people who installed and administer the software as well. Hard to believe that none of the above were worried about their liability for the misuse of said software.
Of course school administrators are proving themselves to be much stupider than I would ever have imagined, and so if they are stupid enough to use tax dollars to give out free lap tops then perhaps they are stupid enough to install software for pedophiles on them as well. If so clearly they are too stupid or don't care that snooping on students in their own homes will cost the school district millions. If this is true then hopefully they will end up in prison.
I am going to call BS on this for now though. Seems too far fetched.
Well rest assured I do not support their concept of the ends justify the means.
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