School allegedly uses students' laptop webcams for espionage

[EpyonXero]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/18/school-allegedly-uses-students-laptop-webcam-for-espionage-law/

Schools are out of control.

Hold onto your butts, kids, we've got a doozy of a story. Let's take this one slow: a class-action lawsuit has been filed in Pennsylvania accusing the Lower Merion school district of "unauthorized, inappropriate and indiscriminate remote activation" of webcams in laptops issued to students, without prior knowledge or consent. The tale begins when Assistant Principal Lindy Mastko of Harriton High School informed a student that he was "engaged in improper behavior in his home"; the suit alleges that when pressed for details, Mastko told both the boy and his father that the school district could remotely activate the webcam -- a capability that is apparently being used.

The school district has yet to respond to the accusations, so at this point we've only got the plaintiff's side of the story -- for all we know this kid took a picture of himself and somehow accidentally uploaded it on the school network. Then again, some purported Lower Merion students just emailed Gizmodo and claimed that their MacBooks' green webcam lights went on at random times, but they were told by IT support that it was just a technical glitch. Holy alleged invasion of privacy, Batman, this could get mighty interesting. PDF of the complaint available below.

Update: The Lower Merion School District superintendent Christopher McGinley has issued an official response on its website, acknowledging "a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops." Going further, he says the district " has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever" but that the matter is "under review."

[Homeslice]

I wouldn't be surprised. Of any white collar occupation, school administration jobs seem to attract the worst people, from both a personality and ability standpoint.

[Dave]

They should have known from the pedobear sticker next to the intel inside one :lol:

[anthonyk]

:lol That pic in the article is hilarious.

[t-homo]

And the worst part is that the assistant principal probably believes that there is nothing wrong with what she did. I hate how schools try to punish you for shit you do outside of them.

[Apoc]

I hate how schools try to punish you for shit you do outside of them.


Why, is this shit widespread?

When I was young, they didnt give a fuck what we did at home or school, as long as you shut up when they were teaching. The more stoned you were, the more they liked it, as you were likely to shut up and enjoy the buzz.

[defector]

I hate how schools try to punish you for shit you do outside of them.

I still don't understand school punishments. When I was in high school, I ditched for two weeks straight. When I finally decide to go back (well I didn't, but not the point) - what is the punishment?

Suspended from school for two weeks...

[anthonyk]

Why, is this shit widespread?

Yeah, there are a ton of stories out there of schools punishing kids for stuff they post on Facebook (that isn't happening on school grounds).

[Homeslice]

I still don't understand school punishments. When I was in high school, I ditched for two weeks straight. When I finally decide to go back (well I didn't, but not the point) - what is the punishment?

Suspended from school for two weeks...

:lol

[Avatard]

That's my fucking HS. Noice.

Told y'all my school sucked.

:lol

[Apoc]

Yeah, there are a ton of stories out there of schools punishing kids for stuff they post on Facebook (that isn't happening on school grounds).

WOW!

I'd flip if I was a parent.

[Avatard]

Lower Merion High School is watching you masturbate!

[Homeslice]

By Carl Hessler Jr., chessler@pottsmerc.com

NORRISTOWN – Montgomery County authorities are reviewing complaints and allegations made in a civil suit that Lower Merion School District used school-issued computers to spy on students at home to determine if there should be a criminal investigation.

“After reviewing the lawsuit and the news articles that have been printed, I made the determination that we should be looking at this to see if a criminal investigation is warranted,” District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said on Friday.

Ferman said she received “many, many calls” from parents at her office regarding the claims made in the lawsuit, which became public Thursday.

“Many members of the community have contacted our office,” said Ferman, declining to be more specific about the nature of the callers’ concerns. “Right now, we’re taking the calls and getting the information and just going to look at it to see if it warrants further law enforcement action.

“We’re looking to see whether there are potential violations of Pennsylvania criminal laws,” added Ferman, referring to state laws that address wiretap violations.

Ferman indicated she has been in contact with Lower Merion police.

“We will be jointly looking into the situation to see if it warrants further investigation,” said Ferman, declining to comment more about what she might or might not do in the future regarding the matter.

“I think the most appropriate response is one that is measured. I don’t want to overreact just because something is taking on a very high-profile place in the media. I think, from a law enforcement perspective, before we jump in and say we’re going to do anything, it’s important that we see what’s there,” Ferman added. “We have to gather what’s available right now and then make some decisions.”

A federal lawsuit filed earlier this week by the parents of a Harriton High School student alleged that the school district has been remotely spying on students inside their homes through their webcam-enabled, district-issued computers.

Lower Merion school officials launched a campaign several years ago to issue laptop computers to all high-school students. The program began at Harriton and has since been expanded to Lower Merion High School.

Student Blake Robbins and his parents filed the electronic-privacy suit after an assistant principal at Harriton High School told him the camera had caught him doing something inappropriate at home.

Michael Robbins, his father, confirmed with the educator that the school could activate the webcams remotely, the lawsuit alleged.

School officials told parents the district only activated the webcams to find missing laptops.

The schools' technology and security departments would activate the webcam when any of the 2,300 student laptops were reported lost or stolen, Lower Merion School District Superintendent Christopher McGinley said. He posted the letter to parents on the district Web site late Thursday amid widespread student outrage and the filing of a potential class-action lawsuit alleging wiretapping and privacy violations.

"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," McGinley wrote. "The District never activated the security feature for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever."

The suit did not indicate that Blake Robbins' laptop had ever been reported lost or stolen.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

[Avatard]

Boys and girls, today's oxymoron is:

Computer Security.

[t-homo]

If I knew what was going on, i'd show em the goat whenever i saw the light turn on. My senior year of highschool, when facebook really took off, they did the same thing about checking to make sure we didn't have any pictures with beer or anything in the picture.

Or if you got an MIP or something (the possession by consumption thing came around while i was in HS, too) over the weekend, you would get 3 days ISS or some shit.

[Kaneman]

Don't do anything immoral and you'll have nothing to worry about.

[EpyonXero]

That's my fucking HS. Noice.

Told y'all my school sucked.

:lol

One of my cousins went there, him and Kobe.

[OneSickPsycho]

They should have known from the pedobear sticker next to the intel inside one :lol:

No doubt... I wonder if any HS porn was leaked onto the internet...

[sherri_chickie]

As a teacher I think it is ridiculuous for us to police what our students do outside of school. Shouldn't that be the parents job? Just don't let it fall over into school ( cyber bullying and the like)

[Tmall]

As a teacher I think it is ridiculuous for us to police what our students do outside of school. Shouldn't that be the parents job? Just don't let it fall over into school ( cyber bullying and the like)

I know this probably doesn't pertain to you, but a lot of teachers I know just didn't want to leave high school. So, they got a job that allowed them to go back.

They were the ones who would go "visit" after we graduated. Its kind of creepy some times..

[Apoc]

I know this probably doesn't pertain to you, but a lot of teachers I know just didn't want to leave high school. So, they got a job that allowed them to go back.

They were the ones who would go "visit" after we graduated. Its kind of creepy some times..

Yup, Stacy Mac. is still pining over high school hockey players :lol:

[sherri_chickie]

Tmall.. that is just creepy. eww

My school is a k-9 school so at least the kids we are dealing with are under a bit more supervision than your average high schooler. Plus its a Christian school so typically the parents are more involved. Mind you we still had a crop of 9th graders last year that ran wild. I know for a fact that they were doing pot and drinking on the weekend. They would try and tell me their stories and I would just say. I don't want to hear! It's not like it was a surprise to their parents anyhow.

[Dragonpaco]

That's my fucking HS. Noice.

Told y'all my school sucked.

:lol

you're from fucking norristown!? you poor poor man

[Avatard]

you're from fucking norristown!? you poor poor man

Nope. Merion, Wynnewood. Went to Lower Merion High.

Same school district, as it turns out.

['73 H1 Triple]

Nope. Merion, Wynnewood. Went to Lower Merion High.

Same school district, as it turns out.

Souderton Area High School here ( many moons ago )

Seems the higher up some teachers go, the more of a powertrip that consumes them.

[Homeslice]

(CNN) -- The FBI has opened an investigation into allegations that a Pennsylvania school official remotely monitored a student at home, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told CNN on Saturday.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the FBI became involved in the case after a family filed a lawsuit against the Lower Merion School District, located outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The family accused an assistant principal at Harriton High School of watching their son through his laptop's webcam while he was at home and unaware he was being watched. The family also says the school official used a photo taken on a laptop as the basis for disciplining the student.

In a statement issued late Friday, District Superintendent Christopher McGinley rejected the allegations.

"At no time did any high school administrator have the ability or actually access the security-tracking software," he said. "We believe that the administrator at Harriton has been unfairly portrayed and unjustly attacked in connection with her attempts to be supportive of a student and his family. The district never did and never would use such tactics as a basis for disciplinary action."

A school official said it was a mistake not to make families aware of a feature allowing the school to monitor the computer hardware.

The law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told CNN that the FBI will try to determine whether federal wiretap or computer intrusion laws were violated.

But FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver said he could not disclose the existence of an investigation.

In a lawsuit seeking class-action status filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Michael and Holly Robbins of Penn Valley are suing the school district, its board of directors, and the superintendent. They claim that the district unlawfully used its ability to remotely access a webcam on their son's laptop computer, which was issued by the district.

The lawsuit says that on November 11, 2009, the plaintiff's son was told by the assistant principal at Harriton High School that he was caught engaging in "improper behavior" in his home which was captured in an image via the webcam. According to the Robbins' complaint, neither they nor their son were informed of the school's ability to remotely access the webcam. It is unclear what the boy was doing in his room or if any punishment was given out.

Doug Young, spokesman for the Lower Merion School District, told CNN that the district would only remotely access a laptop if it was reported lost, stolen or missing.

If that happened, the district would first have to request access from its technology and security department and receive authorization, he said. Then it would use the built-in security feature to take over the laptop and see whatever was in the webcam's field of vision, potentially allowing them to track down the missing computer.

During the 2009-2010 school year, 42 laptops were reported lost, stolen or missing, and the tracking software was activated by the technology department in each instance, according to McGinley's statement. A total of 18 laptops were found or recovered.

"Despite some reports to the contrary, be assured that the security-tracking software has been completely disabled," McGinley said in the statement.

"This feature was limited to taking a still image of the computer user and an image of the desktop in order to help locate the reported missing, lost, or stolen computer (this includes tracking down a loaner computer that, against regulations, might be taken off campus)."

In order to receive the laptop, the family had to sign an "acceptable-use" agreement. In order to take the laptop home, the family would also have to buy insurance for the computer.

In the "acceptable-use" agreement, the families are made aware of the school's ability to "monitor" the hardware, Young said, but it stops short of explicitly explaining the security feature. He said that was a mistake.

Young told CNN that the district is very proud of the laptop program and its ability to close the technology gap between students who have computers at home and those who don't. He acknowledged that the schools have to take a step back to re-evaluate the policies and procedures surrounding the program.

Multiple requests for further comment from the lawyer for the Robbins', Mark Haltzman of Lamm Rubenstone LLC, went unanswered.

[Particle Man]

Why, is this shit widespread?


Yes. Mostly because there are parents out there who expect the school to baby sit their kids even after school hours.

That being said, this definitely crosses some lines.

[t-homo]

Tmall.. that is just creepy. eww

My school is a k-9 school so at least the kids we are dealing with are under a bit more supervision than your average high schooler. Plus its a Christian school so typically the parents are more involved. Mind you we still had a crop of 9th graders last year that ran wild. I know for a fact that they were doing pot and drinking on the weekend. They would try and tell me their stories and I would just say. I don't want to hear! It's not like it was a surprise to their parents anyhow.

Heaven forbid they are like every other freshman.