School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home...

[posty]

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/17/schoo...8Boing+Boing%29

 

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.

 

But when schools take that personal information, indiscriminately invading privacy (and, of course, punishing students who use proxies and other privacy tools to avoid official surveillance), they send a much more powerful message: your privacy is worthless and you shouldn't try to protect it.

[bpwallace49]

I heard they also serve Soylent Green in the school cafeteria . . . .

[buddahj]

Soylent Green is people!!!

[Big John]

Soylent Green is people!!!

And a former username of clubfoothead.

[Kid Cid]

We joke, but this is clearly a serious issue. Just what prompted that school to think that what students do in their own home is ANY of their business to begin with?

[Ursa Majoris]

We joke, but this is clearly a serious issue. Just what prompted that school to think that what students do in their own home is ANY of their business to begin with?

Is this for real? I cannot fathom any reason to do this.

 

And.....why are schools ISSUING laptops at all? Make the little $hits get a pen and paper out and teach them mental arithmetic too, lazy little twats.

[Kid Cid]

Is this for real? I cannot fathom any reason to do this.

 

And.....why are schools ISSUING laptops at all? Make the little $hits get a pen and paper out and teach them mental arithmetic too, lazy little twats.

As far as I can tell it is for real. I caught a blurb on it on our local news radio station in addition to this article.

[Furd]

Checkbook please.

[Ursa Majoris]

Update

 

A suburban Philadelphia school district accused of spying on students at home via school-issued computers told parents it only activated the webcams to find missing laptops.

 

The schools' technology and security departments would activate the webcam when any of the 2,300 student laptops were reported lost or stolen, Lower Merion School District Superintendent Christopher McGinley said. He posted the letter to parents on the district Web site late Thursday, amid widespread student outrage and the filing of a potential class-action lawsuit alleging wiretap and privacy violations.

 

"The security feature's capabilities were limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen. This feature was only used for the narrow purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop," McGinley wrote. "The District never activated the security feature for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever."

 

I still think it's insane to buy laptops for students. No wonder the districts keep shuffling around year after year, cap in hand, trying to get more and more money off property tax payers.

[The Holy Roller]

Update

 

 

 

I still think it's insane to buy laptops for students. No wonder the districts keep shuffling around year after year, cap in hand, trying to get more and more money off property tax payers.

 

:schools:We're friggin' rich! :schools:

[Chief Dick]

And.....why are schools ISSUING laptops at all? Make the little $hits get a pen and paper out and teach them mental arithmetic too, lazy little twats.

 

 

I agree. Those laptop thingies will never catch on in today's world.

[Delicious_bass]

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/17/schoo...8Boing+Boing%29

 

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.

 

But when schools take that personal information, indiscriminately invading privacy (and, of course, punishing students who use proxies and other privacy tools to avoid official surveillance), they send a much more powerful message: your privacy is worthless and you shouldn't try to protect it.

Clearly, this Vice Principle is not the sharpest knife in the drawer

 

We joke, but this is clearly a serious issue. Just what prompted that school to think that what students do in their own home is ANY of their business to begin with?

Schools have done this for years. Well, at least they have around here, anyway. Students can face various forms of discipline if its determined they were using drugs/drinking/tobacco/etc even when not on school time or grounds...

 

 

Is this for real? I cannot fathom any reason to do this.

 

And.....why are schools ISSUING laptops at all? Make the little $hits get a pen and paper out and teach them mental arithmetic too, lazy little twats.

Agreed. Kids today can operate (and even program) computers in elementary school but you take away that pc and they're totally lost. And they dont have the common sense god gave the average dog Edited February 19, 2010 by Delicious_bass

[TimC]

Is this for real? I cannot fathom any reason to do this.

 

And.....why are schools ISSUING laptops at all? Make the little $hits get a pen and paper out and teach them mental arithmetic too, lazy little twats.

 

Worse than handing out laptops and complaining they are broke is the cathedral Taj Mahal schools they build today. My school was built back in the 50's and had two doors to enter through at the main building and never a trailer. The district we live in built a new school 4 years ago that had a huge 3-story glass atrium and gym that rivaled small Division 1 colleges. And yet they still cry poor. This is why I say the people sending kids to these schools should be taxed extra. Screw 'em.

 

Oh wait, the argument is my property values go up because of these cathedrals. Well, not when the district is broke from it and can't afford to expand so they set up trailers for the overflow. Yeah, a mobile home in your school really increases property values. How about building simpler schools? No wonder smart people never go into public life....it's just too simple and you're surrounded by morans.

 

Oh, and don't get me started on the lottery money we never had back in the 80's but we weren't busto then.

[rajncajn]

Agreed. Kids today can operate (and even program) computers in elementary school but you take away that pc and they're totally lost. And they dont have the common sense god gave the average dog

You're not using much yourself with a quote like that.

 

Kids in elementary school are way more advanced than we ever were & while that does include the use of computers the good majority of their work is still done with the old paper & pencil.

Edited February 19, 2010 by rajncajn

[buddahj]

Do kids now a days even know what a pencil is? I know a lot of them can't tell the time unless it's digital.

[detlef]

Do kids now a days even know what a pencil is? I know a lot of them can't tell the time unless it's digital.

I hate pencils. The pencil is not mightier than the sword. My manager at Dos Perros uses those damned mechanical pencils. They look like freaking pens but it's all a big fat lie. A lie that crushes your soul the second you try to use one of those damned things.

[Savage Beatings]

I hate pencils. The pencil is not mightier than the sword. My manager at Dos Perros uses those damned mechanical pencils. They look like freaking pens but it's all a big fat lie. A lie that crushes your soul the second you try to use one of those damned things.

 

Best pencil rant ever!

[detlef]

Best pencil rant ever!

I think that's like winning the tallest midget award.

[Ursa Majoris]

Kids in elementary school are way more advanced than we ever were

I beg to differ. A lot.

[buddahj]

Best pencil rant ever!

That's right up there with Whomper's ricket rants.

[rajncajn]

I beg to differ. A lot.

Maybe our schools are better than the ones you're familiar with or maybe the one's I had as a kid sucked. Everyone I talk to who has kids in elementary school talk about how their kids are learning things that they didn't see until middle or high school at least. To say kids... at least my kids, would be lost without a computer is a gross overstatement.

[Ursa Majoris]

Maybe our schools are better than the ones you're familiar with or maybe the one's I had as a kid sucked. Everyone I talk to who has kids in elementary school talk about how their kids are learning things that they didn't see until middle or high school at least. To say kids... at least my kids, would be lost without a computer is a gross overstatement.

OK, but my original point was about buying laptops for all. It just strikes me as crazy - and yes, I know full well that computers are indispensable in life these days. However, they also stunt mental processes if the fundamentals aren't taught before laptops / computers are used.

 

I tend to agree with TimC about the reasons schools are always wanting more cash. They are veritable Taj Mahals, same as hospitals c/w marble fountain and all the rest of the frippery.

 

Here's an idea - business is always saying schools need to do a better job of prepping kids for work, so how about they buy the f'n school laptops instead of Joe and Jill Houseowner? What's the maintenance and administration overhead on these laptops, never mind the three year replacement cycle? No need to answer - I already know. A laptop TCO (total cost of ownership) for a business is over $900 / month. Even with school licensing prices, the cost has to be enormous.