PA School Spied On Students Via School-Issued Laptop Webcams 941
jargon82 writes "A Pennsylvania high school is using laptops they issued to students to spy on them in homes and outside of school. According to a class action filling the webcams and microphones in these laptops could be remotely activated by school officials, and have been used in this role. One student was accused of 'improper behavior in his home' and the school provided a photo taken via his laptop as proof."
I dont see the problem here (Score:5, Funny)
They were obviously trying to weed out all those terrorists, commies, subversives or whatever the government is at war with this time.
Its better to start at an early age.
I cant wait until they can scan foetal DNA to find out if its going to be a paedophile or terrorist.
Re:Turn it around (Score:5, Funny)
But I was only recording the students' every action!
How could I have known they'd undress at some point?
Re:Tape (Score:1, Funny)
These guys were taping the kids, and look where it got them!
This is too protect the children (Score:2, Funny)
Does anyone see some child porn charges coming here?
Quite the opposite. These Web cams were meant to protect the children, so that if any inappropriate sexual behavior is observed, included but not limited to self-abuse, we can stop it before harm is done. If these kids and their families have nothing to hide then they won't mind being observed. It's all for the safety and in the best interests of the teenagers. And yes, teenagers are NOT adults, so they shouldn't be expected to have the same privacy rights as adults. They need to be protected. If you are a parent who is against incest then you would want all your school officials to have Webcam access to your home. Parents have Parental controls for kids, and teachers, who act as guardians, have the same responsibility to Think of the Children.
Re:Turn it around (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I dont see the problem here (Score:3, Funny)
They were obviously trying to weed out all those terrorists, commies, subversives or whatever the government is at war with this time.
No, this is PA, not South Carolina.
Re:This is too protect the children (Score:5, Funny)
You've never seen the way I do it.*
*Unless you have remote access to my webcams.
Re:If you read the filing... (Score:4, Funny)
"...it's actually quite interesting. I have a feeling that the folks who are looking to see child porn charges pressed might actually get their way. According to the"
And knowing the IQ of most DAs in matters like this, the students will be pressed with charges of distributing, but the watchers won't be charged with anything.
Re:This is too protect the children (Score:5, Funny)
I'm hoping your nick isn't a clue.
Re:This is too protect the children (Score:3, Funny)
Let's just say that the previous mention of duct tape, WD-40, and vice grips only describes the half of it.
Re:Logistics? (Score:1, Funny)
No, they just look at the teenage girls with boobies.
They had the computer club look over the footage. I would like to see the multi monitor setup in these kids homes.
I could see the school district saying. "The computer club students were really good kids. They had straight A's before we gave them this task. I haven't really seen any of them in school since though. They must really be taking their handy work seriously."
Re:What does inappropriate behavior mean? (Score:1, Funny)
We accidently killed our kitten while having sex when mom rolled over... she's a big girl.
Re:Don't take candy from the government (Score:3, Funny)
This is why you don't want "free" computers from the government...
Um, I don't think you'd want "free" computers from a for-profit company either. Nothing is for free.
How about herpes?
Re:Tape (Score:3, Funny)
they'll probably get $0.50 each per month for the rest of their lives
A million dollars is more like $1500/mo given average life expectancy.
Oh, you meant after lawyers fees. ;)
Funny comment on the bottom of the page (Score:3, Funny)
Having been a school IT manager for years I find the fact that you would be able to enable a webcam on a specific machine outside of schools network a little far fetched unless you had some pretty elaborate software or pretty serious intent (Like a warrant).
This guy is certainly MCSE material, certainly speaks volumes about the level of skill of our child educators.
elaborate software, he must mean like wget and cron....ba ha ha ha ha...
Re:Waterfall (Score:1, Funny)
I'm sure it is just a coincidence that she was the only black person on the bus.
She must have been messing up the white balance in the camera . . .
Re:Tape (Score:3, Funny)
Free rotting fruit provided for free.
As opposed to...?