Quote :

"School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home Cory Doctorow at 11:49 PM Wednesday, Feb 17, 2010 According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines. If true, these allegations are about as creepy as they come. I don't know about you, but I often have the laptop in the room while I'm getting dressed, having private discussions with my family, and so on. The idea that a school district would not only spy on its students' clickstreams and emails (bad enough), but also use these machines as AV bugs is purely horrifying. Schools are in an absolute panic about kids divulging too much online, worried about pedos and marketers and embarrassing photos that will haunt you when you run for office or apply for a job in 10 years. They tell kids to treat their personal details as though they were precious. your privacy is worthless and you shouldn't try to protect it. Update: The school district admits that student laptops were shipped with software for covertly activating their webcams, but denies wrongdoing. Robbins v. Lower Merion School District (PDF) "

http://boingboing.net/2010/02/17/school-used-student.html


old? i know the date is, but i just saw it today



FOLLOW UP:

Quote :

"Feds: No charges in Pa. school laptop-spying case"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_laptops_spying_on_students

[Edited on August 19, 2010 at 4:47 PM. Reason : ,NMB]

8/19/2010 4:46:26 PM

k

8/19/2010 4:47:47 PM

k

8/19/2010 4:51:57 PM

no shit, i pointed that out. now look at the date on the second link asshole

[Edited on August 19, 2010 at 4:53 PM. Reason : ok, you edited, but i'm still leaving this up here for others haha]

8/19/2010 4:52:43 PM

wonder how many kids they caught beating off

probably hundreds

8/19/2010 4:53:20 PM

Quote :

"now look at the date on the second link asshole"

when you see it...you'll shit bricks.

8/19/2010 4:54:13 PM

This is the type of lawsuit that my parents would file. The school has no authority, or right, to discipline a kid for anything that they do outside of school. I realize that some colleges have measures in place to discipline students for crimes that they are charged with, but I seriously doubt any of these kids got charged for beating their meat with a monkey wrench into a tube sock.

My parents would file this lawsuit, and I love them for that.

[Edited on August 19, 2010 at 4:56 PM. Reason : shoulda just ran a crazy dick loop like on chatroulette]

8/19/2010 4:55:28 PM