The school issued laptop PCs to its pupils so they could do their homework. Fair enough, but the laptops included webcams and the school also added spyware so it could could keep an eye on the students, that is, spy on them and their families outside of school hours in their own homes.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1592822/us-school-spies-students

inquirer

Federal prosecutors will not file charges against a school district or its employees over the use of software to remotely monitor students.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-17-laptop-spying_N.htm

USA Today

so does this mean if your intent isn't bad, it's alright to take pictures of people (adults or underage) in their bedrooms without their consent?!

There is no way in hell this could be legal. That's voyeurism, no question.

EDIT: I think the title is misleading. This IS illegal, they just did it anyway. They've been sued and I'm sure the school is going to get in trouble over this.

Creepers.

Imagine going through tons of videos of teenage alone time! It's a pedo's dream! But really that's a huge invasion of privacy.

[quote="inquirer"]

The school issued laptop PCs to its pupils so they could do their homework. Fair enough, but the laptops included webcams and the school also added spyware so it could could keep an eye on the students, that is, spy on them and their families outside of school hours in their own homes.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1592822/us-school-spies-students

Mystery_Writer

so does this mean if your intent isn't bad, it's alright to take pictures of people (adults or underage) in their bedrooms without their consent?!

Imagine going through tons of videos of teenage alone time! It's a pedo's dream! But really that's a huge invasion of privacy.

Espada12

You can say that again.

Now I hate my school even more:x

How is it not illegal? WTF America. What. The. F...

"the Harriton High School in Philadelphia is being sued by the parents of Blake Robbins, who it had accused of "improper behaviour in his home.""

The school care about this issue enough to cause trouble for themselves, why?

I remember I used to be late for science class everyday and I would say that I live far away and I have to take public transit as an excuse. My teacher looked up my address and found out I actually lived across the street.

that's discusting

I remember when the incident with that school first started.
I figure they (the parents) have a solid case to sue because no consent was given, and if there was no fine print when they were enrolled/issued the laptops.

I can't see how that would be legal without consent :?

The first thing I would do with a computer that I didn't boot from the setup would be to reformat it though >_____>

what were they even thinking...dude, just, the ?

"the Harriton High School in Philadelphia is being sued by the parents of Blake Robbins, who it had accused of "improper behaviour in his home.""

The school care about this issue enough to cause trouble for themselves, why?

T_P_O

Perhaps because the market for webcam images of children engaged in "improper behaviour" is so lucrative?

it seems the inquirer edited their article..

here is the original article before the edit

US says it is not illegal for schools to spy on students at home

IT LOOKS LIKE PROSECUTORS are not going to get involved in the bizarre case of the school which switched on laptops to spy on students while they were in their own bedrooms.

US Attorney Zane David Memeger told USA Today, investigators had found no evidence of criminal intent by Lower Merion School District employees who activated tracking software that took thousands of webcam and screenshot images on school-provided laptops.

A student and his family sued the district in February, claiming officials invaded his privacy by activating the software and the civil case is ongoing.

The school has admitted that it captured 56,000 screen shots and webcam images mostly so it could find missing student laptops. But in the case of this student the school appears to have been using the laptops to investigate home drug use.

By saying that the school was not "criminal" the prosecutors are not implying that the outfit was right. However it does mean that schools do not have to be worried about being locked up for spying on their students using this method.

It also says that breaches of privacy that are not carried out for "bad reasons" is OK in the United States. So if you are a company that wants to watch what its employees get up to in their home in case they might be taking corporate secrets, that is OK one imagines.

You could still be sued if the employee finds out, but it is not criminal. One wonders then if HP should ever have gone down for the pre-texting scandal or are schools allowed to do what they like?

You can find the background hereand here.

inquirer

Wow if this is legal that is messed up.

That's a bit odd...

I'm sure this has happened before, either that of this news is late. Also this sort of thing isn't unheard of this: http://www.centernetworks.com/man-fired-thanks-to-gps-tracking has happened a few timesmarkop2003

That site is guilty of blatant sensationalism. Going with an AP article, we learn the program that turns on the webcam is a tool that's remotely activated for the purpose of tracking down stolen laptops. Blake Robbins, the student whose family is sueing the district, had one of those laptops that was reported missing. It's not a spy program. No teacher, principal, or superintendent was looking to catch students misbehaving. In fact, no teacher principal, or superintendent even had the ability to turn on the program. The only people in the district who had the ability were two members of the technology staff - i.e. people who don't give a rat's ass about student conduct, only about tracking down stolen goods.

Now, having said all that, I think that's a messed up way of doing things. It's also apparent that the staffers messed up by sometimes forgetting to turn the tracking program off after a missing laptop was found.

How is it not illegal? WTF America. What. The. F...

Avian005

That site is guilty of blatant sensationalism. Going with an AP article, we learn the program that turns on the webcam is a tool that's remotely activated for the purpose of tracking down stolen laptops. Blake Robbins, the student whose family is sueing the district, had one of those laptops that was reported missing. It's not a spy program. No teacher, principal, or superintendent was looking to catch students misbehaving. In fact, no teacher principal, or superintendent even had the ability to turn on the program. The only people in the district who had the ability were two members of the technology staff - i.e. people who don't give a rat's ass about student conduct, only about tracking down stolen goods.

Now, having said all that, I think that's a messed up way of doing things. It's also apparent that the staffers messed up by sometimes forgetting to turn the tracking program off after a missing laptop was found.

Oleg_Huzwog

I remember I used to be late for science class everyday and I would say that I live far away and I have to take public transit as an excuse. My teacher looked up my address and found out I actually lived across the street.

nintendoman562

This was discussed in the beginning of the year when this story surfaced. That first link, for example, is from February.

I wouldn't agree with such a system if there was a "release form" stating the nature of the webcams. What they deem as "improper behavior" could be a various range of things/activities, from masturbation to listening to music be it that laptop or another computer. So if a kid was to inadvertently flip off the camera while using the system (and not knowing it was on), would that constitute "improper behavior"? It shouldn't, it's being done in the privacy of his home. Had I been participating, I'd probably cover the camera lense. No, I wouldn't use the laptop for anything other than school work.

oldddd, really oldddd.GazaAli

The update isn't old.

[QUOTE="GazaAli"]owned, really owned.m0zart

The update isn't old.