Quote:Posted: Thursday, 18 February 2010 3:48PM

Montco Couple Says School District Spied on Their Son Via Webcam


by KYW's Mike DeNardo

A Penn Valley, Pa. couple is suing the Lower Merion School District, claiming the district spied on their son through his school-issued laptop computer.

All high school students in the Lower Merion School District get laptops issued by the school. Michael and Holly Robbins of Penn Valley claim that officials at Harriton High School remotely activated the webcam in their son's laptop because the school believed their son was "engaged in improper behavior" at home.

According to court documents, an assistant principal confronted the student last November, saying the webcam photo was evidence.

The federal suit alleges that the school district never informed students or parents that the district had the capability to remotely activate the webcam. The suit claims the student's civil rights were violated.

There was no immediate comment from the school district.

(Graphic by KYW's Ed Fischer)

http://www.kyw1060.com/Montco-Couple-Says-School-Spied-on--Son-Via-Webcam/6393020

Quote:Posted: Thursday, 18 February 2010 10:35PM

District Admits Remote Use of Webcams


KYW Newsradio Team Coverage

The Lower Merion School District has confirmed that it remotely activated webcams in school-issued computers. The admission comes in response to a federal lawsuit charging the district with invasion of privacy (see earlier story).

KYW's Pat Loeb reports that the Lower Merion schools spokesman Doug Young says the district felt a responsibility to safeguard the 2,300 Macintosh laptops it issued to each high school student this year, so it equipped them with a feature that allowed the district to take a picture of the user if a Mac were reported lost or stolen. However, it never told students or parents about the feature:

"We certainly, certainly regret that the situation has caused concern among our students and families."

Families learned about it when word got out about a lawsuit filed last week in which a Penn Valley couple charges that their son's school activated the camera because it suspected him of improper behavior and then used the picture it took as evidence to discipline him.

Young says the suit has prompted the district to review its procedures and it has since disabled the feature.

District officials did not respond to requests for more information but many parents were upset by the district's statement. Families had never been told the cameras could be operated remotely.

KYW tech reporter Bob Bicknell reports that the school was able monitor students through their computer webcams -- could someone be watching you or your family?

Each Macbook comes with a built-in webcam, and the software needed to allow an administrator to not only see what’s on the screen but also activate the camera. But the camera usually triggers a small green light to let you know it’s on.

This program, made by Apple, is most often used to install software or troubleshoot computers from afar, and not for spying. Third-party software is available that can take camera snapshots and screenshots without the user knowing, and sounds more like what was used in this case.

This software is sold to help people recover stolen laptops, which is the reason the Lower Merion School District gave on its web site. But of course the question isn’t whether school administrators could watch students through webcams, but whether they should.

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