School District in Laptop-Spying Case Ordered to Shut Off Webcams
Seeking to prevent a repeat of the alleged use of a school-issued laptop computer to spy on a suburban Philadelphia student at his home, a federal judge has approved a consent order intended to put a stop to the potential invasion of privacy.
It prohibits Lower Merion School District from remotely activating the webcams in the laptops provided to some 2,300 high school students and from taking screen shots, reports Computerworld. The school district says it had already turned off the webcams last week, after admittedly using them some 42 times to locate lost or stolen laptops.
As detailed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, the school district says it didn’t spy on students.
Meanwhile, federal authorities are investigating and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania has weighed in, asking for permission to file an amicus brief, after the parents of a 16-year-old student filed suit in federal court earlier this month contending that the school district spied at him at home on his laptop.
“No government official, be it police officer or school principal, can enter a private home, physically or electronically, without an invitation or warrant,” says legal director Vic Walczak of the ACLU of Pennsylvania in a written statement. “In this case, the officials are not just entering the foyer, but a child’s bedroom. Assuming the allegations are true, this is an egregious invasion of privacy.”
Michael and Holly Robbins did not detail in their suit the accusations allegedly made against their son, Blake, by a Harriton High School assistant principal last year, backed by a screen shot of the teen in their Penn Valley, Pa., home. Blake Robbins said in a subsequent appearance on the Early Show that he was accused of selling drugs and taking pills but claimed the screen shot showed him eating candy, reports Computerworld, based on a CBS News article that also includes information from the Associated Press.
Related coverage:
Computerworld: “Software maker blasts ‘vigilantism’ in Pa. school spying case”
Philadelphia Inquirer: “Rare ban in laptop lawsuit”
