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this can't be real:school spys on students at home

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
I can't find anything on a legit news source in the US on this, but I did find it in the Toronto Star, but it was only put online 50 min ago. I've attached the supposed court documents in pdf form at the bottom


Okay, I just found it on Business Insider too, so it looks legit, if the reporters are doing their part. Maybe it will be retracted later. We'll see

http://www.businessinsider.com/high-school-sued-for-spying-on-students-with-laptop-cameras-2010-2

Schools gave students computers, then used webcams to spy on them: lawsuit

February 18, 2010

Lesley Ciarula Taylor

A wealthy suburban Philadelphia school district spied on its students with webcams in school-issued laptops, a lawsuit filed by one student’s parents charges.

Students only found out about the snooping when a principal told a student they had a picture of him doing something wrong in his home, the suit says.

“The school district has the ability to intercept images from that webcam of anyone or anything appearing in front of the camera at the time of activation,” the lawsuit against the Lower Merion School District claims.

“The school district has the ability to remotely activate the embedded webcam at any time,” the lawsuit says.

“Many of the images captured may consist of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including various stages of undress.”

It was only when an assistant principal at Harriton High School told Grade 10 student Blake Robbins she had a picture that proved he “was engaged in improper behaviour in his home” that anyone realized the school could peep into students’ home lives without them knowing, the lawsuit says.

Assistant principal Lindy Matsko “cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in” Robbins’ school-issued laptop, the lawsuit says.

Blake’s parents, Michael and Holly Robbins, filed the lawsuit Feb. 11 on behalf of all 1,800 students at Lower Merion’s schools. The lawsuit alleges the webcams violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of privacy, Pennsylvania common law, the U.S. Civil Rights Act, and a variety of other laws.

In his welcome to students, posted on the district website, school district superintendent Dr. Christopher McGinley speaks glowingly of the program to give every student their own laptop and create “an authentic, mobile, 21st century learning environment.”

The program “ensures that all students have 24/7 access to school-based resources.”

The Robbins lawsuit contends the district also had 24/7 access to the students “by the unauthorized, inappropriate and indiscriminate remote activation of a webcam.”

Serving the wealthy Main Line outside of Philadelphia, the Lower Merion School District “is one of only two districts in Pennsylvania to earn Moody’s highest bond rating,” information in McGinley’s biography says. Its teachers are among the highest paid in Pennsylvania and its students’ college-entrance scores are among the highest in the country, the information says.

Superintendent McGinley, the Robbins family, and their attorneys were not immediately available for comment Thursday.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/767429--schools-gave-students-computers-then-used-webcams-to-spy-on-them-lawsuit

court filings

Robbins v. Lower Merion School District (PDF)
 

Liveoak

Well-known member
I like seeing public schools that enforce rules but if the above report is true then it appears that the school is being used as a substitute for parenting. They've gone way too far IMO. This kinda reminds me of a story on CNN this morning: "A 12-year-old schoolgirl scrawled "I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)" on her desk. What followed -- handcuffs and a trip to a police precinct -- is raising concerns about zero tolerance policies." Some schools seem to be going way too far while others do nothing.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
This is one of those stories that should be all over the news, but is not.

do a google search. the only reputable sources that come up are the 2 I listed.

What ever happened to services like a "newswire" service. You'd think that with the ease and access of the internet it would be plastered ever where by now.

Interesting story to follow and see how it is covered in the MSM
 
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