Posted on 02/19/2010 9:54:27 AM PST by bs9021
Lawsuit: School Cyberspied on Student
Bethany Stotts, February 19, 2010
A school district in suburban Philadelphia gave out MacBook laptops to “all high school students” which contained a security feature allowing the school to remotely activate the laptops’ webcams, Lower Merion School District Superintendent Dr. Christopher McGinley admitted yesterday. “The laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. This feature has been deactivated effective today,” states the district’s initial online response.
A letter by Dr. McGinley posted later that evening gives more details:
“…Laptops are a frequent target for theft in schools and off school property. District laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. The security feature, which was disabled today, was installed to help locate a laptop in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student.
Upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature would be activated by the District’s security and technology departments. The security feature’s capabilities were limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator’s screen. This feature was only used for the narrow purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District never activated the security feature for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever…”
This revelation came following a lawsuit by one family against the school district, Computer World reported yesterday....
(Excerpt) Read more at academia.org ...
Nope—not buying it. The Vice-Principal of one school has already admitted activating a laptop and seeing what she called “inappropriate” activity several months ago. The laptop in question was NOT stolen. This is governmental CYA, and it’s not going to fly.
Nope, not buying it! No way No How.
The vice principal ought to be on sex offender registry along with her cohorts who joined her in spying on the children.
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