Lawsuit: School Cyberspied on Student (Update)

AIA-FL Blog ^ | February 23, 2010 | Bethany Stotts

[bs9021]

Lawsuit: School Cyberspied on Student (Update)

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. “A Philadelphia-area school district finds itself under scrutiny after remotely activating a MacBook Web cam and capturing a young student engaging in ‘improper behavior at home,’” writes Brennon Slattery for PC World today....

[Tax-chick]

“The laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. ... but we were hoping to use it to catch students undressing, smoking, or masturbating. Curses, foiled again!" said a district spokesman.

[gaijin]

So...the objective was to prevent theft of school computers, and not to peer at nude students or spy on their parents or houses, OK.

BUT:

Numerous students reported when attempting to use their OWN computers at school (computers that were NOT bugged), they were nearly expelled.

SO: the school wanted them OOOONLY to use the bugged computers, and no other computers.

[stockpirate]

I wonder how many young girls and boys were viewed in their bedrooms with little or no clothes on?

[Tax-chick]

The district was caught with its pants down, as it were, observing a student in his home. The manufacturer *might* have intended the camera to be used for recovery of the hardware, but the district *obviously* didn’t intend to be guided by that.

[freedumb2003]

It doesn’t even matter if the spying was established for what the school thinks was a “legitimate” purpose.

As an agent of the State, the U.S. Constitution applies. This is a form of warrantless (and baseless) wiretapping. The 4th Amendment is very much in play here.

And they used it to accuse a kid (wrongly) of having drugs in his room! Proof that is was illegally snooping beyond the ostensible “notebook locater.”

[anonsquared]

In case you missed this:

http://strydehax.blogspot.com/2010/02/spy-at-harrington-high.html

[Mariner]

When government employees violate civil rights, they can be held personally liable...civilly and CRIMINALLY.

Every person associated with this event should be held to that standard...and if they cannot prove they report the laptop STOLEN to the police, should be tried, convicted and imprisoned.

[Above My Pay Grade]

“A Philadelphia-area school district finds itself under scrutiny after remotely activating a MacBook Web cam and capturing a young student engaging in ‘improper behavior at home,’

This is NOT alleged in the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims:

a) A Vice Principal spoke to a student about “innappropriate behavior” she saw in a photo “embedded” on his school issued laptop.

b) The student/parents were told that the laptop web cams CAN be activated remotely for theft recovery.

It does not state that the photo in queston was obtained in this manner. If had been obtained that way, you could bet your entire net worth and anything you could borrow, that the lawsuit would have made that specifi claim. The photo was alomst certainly taken by the student with the webcam, or with another camera and uploaded to the laptop.

The press has fallen into the crafty plaintiff’s laywer’s trick of jumping to exactly the false conclusion that the wording of the lawsuit was designed induce them to jump to.

Anytime you hear about a lawsuit, read it carefully and keep in mind that it has likely been prepared by someone with character similar to that of John Edwards.

[pappyone]

“...you could bet your entire net worth...”

Nice.

[walford]

Let's review:

* Possession of a monitored Macbook was required for classes
* Possession of an unmonitored personal computer was forbidden and would be confiscated
* Disabling the camera was impossible
* Jailbreaking a school laptop in order to secure it or monitor it against intrusion [such as putting tape over the lens?] was an offense which merited expulsion

The school district may someday be viewed as ahead of its time.

[Kid Shelleen]

>>> if had been obtained that way, you could bet your entire net worth and anything you could borrow, that the lawsuit would have made that specific claim <<<

Good point. The other issue is that there was about a 2 month lag between the law suite filing and the time the picture was taken. If there was an inkling of any criminal activity by the school the parents should have gone straight to the police.

[Califreak]

I am often amazed at how school districts seem to have their own set of laws.

If one is a teacher or administrator, one can get away with all sorts of nasty stuff.

I am thinking more and more about homeschooling.

[walford]

I am often amazed at how school districts seem to have their own set of laws.

I know you don't intend it, but let's not tacitly advocate for a federalized education system.

I am thinking more and more about homeschooling.

If having an unmonitored laptop becomes forbidden, I daresay an unmonitored education will be criminalized as well.

[goldi]

I get the impression from this article that they did photograph the kid and perhaps many more.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20100223_Lawyer__L__Merion_is_mum_on_number_of_webcam_pictures.html

[Tired of Taxes]

Check out the latest news on this story linked in goldi’s post #15. A few people claiming to be IT professionals are weighing-in in the comments section following the article. And they’re not buying the school’s side of the story.

[TruthConquers]

From the various thread I have read here at Free Republic, the problem was that the school ‘thought’ the student was using drugs, when the kid was ONLY eating candy, a Mike and Ike red capsule looking candy.

So, it was NOT a problem of theft involved.

And the big unanswered question is “WHY WAS THE SCHOOL WATCHING THIS ONE KID OUT OF OVER 1600 KIDS? “ How many OTHER kids have they “watched”?

The school thought they had uncovered a drug problem.

The school instead revealed their nanny state power hungry parental right grab.

Glad I homeschool.

[metmom]

ANOTHER REASON TO HOMESCHOOL

This ping list is for the “other” articles of interest to homeschoolers about education and public school. This can occasionally be a fairly high volume list. Articles pinged to the Another Reason to Homeschool List will be given the keyword of ARTH. (If I remember. If I forget, please feel free to add it yourself)

The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.

[metmom]

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.

Well, that's better. Now we can sleep easy tonight.

NOT!

We should take their word about this when they lied the first time? I don't think so.

The computers should be turned in.

[metmom]

Isn’t there a parent with the intestinal fortitude to stand up to this kind of totalitarian invasion and control of their lives and their kids lives.

For crying out loud, they issues 2,300 laptops to the students. Are there really over 2,000 parents and their kids who just rolled over and exposed their jugular?