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."
Re:Why boingboing? (Score:5, Informative)
The submission system is broken. If you submit something with a crappy summary and it gets rejected, it will block submissions with that article link, so someone with a good summary must find another source.
Re:Why boingboing? (Score:3, Informative)
What's wrong with boingboing's coverage of it? Seems like a perfectly good article to me. Ars even links to the boingboing one.
Bigbrother tag (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Hmm (Score:5, Informative)
Here's the full list of claims they're making:
Electronic Communications Privacy Act - interception of communications
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act - exceeding authorized access
Stored Communication Act - more unauthorized access
Civil Rights Act - Invasion of Privacy
4th Amendment - Invasion of Privacy
Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act - wiretapping
Pennsylvania common law (1) - Invasion of Privacy
(1) footnote reads: "Should discovery disclose that the Defendants are in possession of images constituting child pornography [...] Plaintiffs will amend this Complaint to assert a cause of action thereunder."
Bonus: Not only does the class action include the 1,800 students, but all their family members.
That school district is fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked
Re:How? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:at the very least (Score:5, Informative)
School officials might avoid child porn charges if they prove they didn't see any lewd images, but I definitely see a lot of people getting fired.
The AP is reporting that they allegedly did see lewd images.
The lawsuit alleges the cameras captured images of Harriton High School students and their families as they undressed and in other compromising situations.
If you read the filing... (Score:5, Informative)
...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 filing, "...it is believed and therefore averred that many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, in various stages of dress or undress."
Seriously, what could have made the school district think that this was, in any way, a good idea? The district itself, the school board, and the superintendent are all listed as defendants. This could be really, really interesting...
Re:Why boingboing? (Score:5, Informative)
If you didn't visit, then why are you guessing at the contents of the link and criticising them for your imagined contents? You seem to have an axe to grind.
The BoingBoing article has commentary beyond simple reporting of the facts, which you may or may not appreciate, but it isn't simply parroting the AP. More importantly, it has a link to the class action complaint itself, which the AP article and the "highly respected news sites" do not.
Re:at the very least (Score:5, Informative)
There is no consent in child pornography. If the students are under 18, they cannot consent, and if they are 18+, it's not child pornography. But it will definitely be a violation of various other things.
Frontline covered this (Score:5, Informative)
At the core of the problem here is that we have an education system that is still stuck in the 19th century.
Re:Occams Razor will serve you well (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Informative)
It isn't the first time a school has punished a kid for something that happens outside of school grounds and hours.
For instance, if you get busted for pot by the cops at a party, I've seen schools suspend kids, kick them out of extra-curricular activites, etc.
Re:Tape (Score:3, Informative)
A peeping Tom would get prison, how is this not the same thing only worse? School administrators should be made to realize that they're not gods, and the kids and their parents have rights.
Seeing as how Zero Tolerance systems are having 12yo kids taken away in handcuff for drawing on desks, I don't see arresting the school board for this kind of behavior is out of line. http://www.themoneytimes.com/featured/20100206/school-girl-arrested-drawing-school-desk-id-1099589.html [themoneytimes.com] (according to that link, it was an erasable marker)
This story has not been confirmed (Score:2, Informative)
The AP is trying to confirm the story. The story has not been confirmed:
By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 30 mins ago
Superintendent Christopher W. McGinley did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press.
I have found nothing on the internet that would suggest this story is true.
Re:Hmm (Score:3, Informative)
But there are many other examples out there to back what you said.
Re:Tape (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Hmm (Score:5, Informative)
The class action suit describes the agreement under which the laptops were provided; no mention is made of remote monitoring. I suggest you read the original filing [craphound.com].
Re:Tape (Score:5, Informative)
The taxpayers are exactly who should be punished. They elected a set of officials who apparently believe it's okay to spy on families in their own homes.
taxpayer != voter
Do you realize that I am a taxpayer and have absolutely no right to vote ? There are quite a few people in this situation. At the same time a lot of US citizens have the right to vote but do not pay taxes.
Why should I be punished for something I had absolutely no control over while the ones who voted these criminals into office are not ?
The US has taxation without representation and representation without taxation, so stop blaming me for paying my fair share of taxes.
Re:Tape (Score:3, Informative)
You can run for office yourself
If I am not allowed to vote do you really think I can run for office ?
I'm not discarding your whole argumentation, just pointing out that not all taxpayers are equal or equally responsible. Again why should I, the taxpayer, be punished because of the voters bad choices ?
Re:Tape (Score:4, Informative)
Should discovery disclose that Defendants are in possession of images constituting child pornography within the meaning of 18 Pa. C.S.A. 6312, et. seq., Plaintiffs will amend this Complaint to assert a cause of action thereunder.
Re:Tape (Score:2, Informative)
The Constitution is not in place to "grant" the people rights, the Constitution is in place to limit what the government is allowed to do.
Close, but you're missing an important distinction. The Constitution exists to grant rights to the Federal government. All other rights not explicitly enumerated for the Federal government in the Constitution are reserved for the States or the People.
The Bill of Rights is a non-exhaustive list of rights that in particular the Government must absolutely never be permitted to infringe.
LMSD response to 'invasion of privacy' allegation (Score:3, Informative)
The school district has responded to the allegations in this press release [lmsd.org].
LMSD response to 'invasion of privacy' allegation
Updated 2/18/10 5:26 PM
Dear LMSD Community,
Last year, our district became one of the first school systems in the United States to provide laptop computers to all high school students. This initiative has been well received and has provided educational benefits to our students.
The District is dedicated to protecting and promoting student privacy. The laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. This feature has been deactivated effective today.
The following questions and answers help explain the background behind the initial decision to install the tracking-security feature, its limited use, and next steps.
Why are webcams installed on student laptops?
The Apple computers that the District provides to students come equipped with webcams and students are free to utilize this feature for educational purposes.
Why was the remote tracking-security feature installed?
Laptops are a frequent target for theft in schools and off school property. The security feature 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.
How did the security feature work?
Upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature was activated by the District's security and technology departments. The tracking-security feature was limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen. This feature has only been used for the limited purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever.
Do you anticipate reactivating the tracking-security feature?
Not without express written notification to all students and families.
We regret if this situation has caused any concern or inconvenience among our students and families. We are reviewing the matter and will provide an additional update as soon as information becomes available.
Sincerely,
Dr. Christopher McGinley
Superintendent
The School District has responded... (Score:5, Informative)
According to them, the system only took 1 single picture to recover a stolen laptop. Now, the thief's parents are suing the school.
Re:Mac Myth (Score:3, Informative)
If these are Macs, then I can state with a fair degree of certainty that it is NOT possible to spy on people without their knowledge. A few days after they started shipping cameras in Mac laptops, I actually had a conversation on this subject with some people familiar with the camera hardware in question.
As shipped, the green light beside the camera turns on as soon as the camera is activated, and at the time, I was told that there is no way to disable it in software even by writing custom drivers. You would actually have to flash the camera with new firmware, and I'm not even sure if you could do it even then. You'd probably have to physically disable the light.