Skin-Crawl Alert: School District Spies on Students With Laptops
By Chris Weiss
A class-action lawsuit has been filed that alleges Harriton High School in the Lower Merion School District (PA) used school-issued laptops to spy on students in their homes. WTF? No seriously, WTF??!!!
According to the filing in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District, school administrators from the suburban district outside of Philadelphia remotely activated webcams while the laptops were being used a student’s home. In the case of the Robbins’ child, a vice principal disciplined Robbins for improper behavior in his own home. Not only that, but he used a photo taken from the webcam to prove it. Again, WTF?!!
Assuming the story holds any accuracy, these actions are beyond incredulous. A. Why would the school do this in the first place? B. Did they really think they would get away with it? C. Why in the name of all that is holy would they actually discipline a student based on findings from a secret webcam?? It’s disturbing to say the least.
The district has responded in stating that the laptops have a remote security feature activated in case of theft or loss. It has since deactivated the feature. You can read the full response here.
In case the school district sounds familiar, it’s other high school–Lower Merion High School–is the alma mater of basketball superstar Kobe Bryant. Luckily for him, he graduated well before laptops and webcams became household accessories. [via Boing Boing] [Photo: MShades]
Friday, February 19, 2010 12:08AM
After further investigation on the School District website, it appears this story is a gross distortion and misrepresentation. The webcam security feature was activated only once at the request of the student who owned the laptop, which had been stolen. The webcam image was used to identify the thief and now the parents of the thief are trying to evade the theft charges with a frivolous lawsuit. American legal system hijacked again with the help of sloppy reporting…
Friday, February 19, 2010 12:18AM
Why is the ACLU not all over t his one? No one arrested?? No one fired?? No one suspended with pay until an outcome?? No one named as controlling the remote?? Are you sheep awake down there??
Why don't all the kids RETURN the Trojan Horses??? No integrity! I'd tell to stuff their free gifts right where they might fit!! It's amazing what people can do when they have just minimal power. Has your police department ordered an investigation. If not…why not? I'd be picketing the police department. The only way you will get any attention is if you protest..and let the media know what you will be doing. They're all jwhorenalists anyway…they'd eat this up.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 2:31PM
[...] More It’s been a hot minute since we heard anything out of the Blake J. Robbins v. Lower Merion School District case. It’s back in the news, and things aren’t looking any more favorable for Lower [...]