PA School Accused Of Spying On Students
A suburban family has filed a lawsuit against the Lower Merion School District for spying on the student at home via a school supplied laptop. The family has requested class status for all students that received a laptop from the school district.
According to the allegations, the issue came to light when assistant principal Lindy Matsko at Harriton High School disciplined student Blake Robbins for inappropriate activity at home. The assistant principal provided a picture from the laptop’s webcam as proof of the activity.
As news of the laptop’s potential and alledged spying spread, the school district sent a letter to all parents admitting the capabilties of the webcam; however, they claim that the remote camera capabilties are only used if the laptop is report lost or stolen. The lawsuit does not indicate if such a claim was make. The claim of when the webcams are activated remotely differs with the parents’ allegations. The parents are alledging possible wiretap and privacy violations.
The school district has stated the the remote capabilties include that abilty to capture a screenshot and to take a picture of the person typing at the keyboard. Like all webcams the camera can take picture of the room where the laptop is placed. Many students and parents are concerned the laptops have been used to take pictures of the students in the privacy of the bedrooms, possibly in various states of dress.
As a result of the widespread anger and the lawsuit, the district has disabled the remote use of the wecams until the policy can be reviewed. The school district needs to assure that the webcams have not been misused and that they have the capability to detect then they are misused. In the mean time, parents are powering off the laptops and not leaving them out in the open.
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