FBI Investigating High Schools Alleged Webcam Spying
Happily, today is one such day. Put on your helmets kids—we're headed to Philadelphia where a wealthy suburban school district is facing allegations of privacy invasion that would rouse a lawyer's...conscience faster than a trip to your local gentleman's club.
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Last November, Lower Merion School District student Blake J. Robbins was called to task by Vice Principal Lindy Matsko principal's office for allegedly engaging in improper behavior. The bombshell is that Robbins wasn't accused of doing anything on school grounds or even during the school day, but had done his naughty deeds in his own home. As evidence, Matsko cited a photo taken by Robbin's webcam without his knowledge or consent. Blake's parents contacted the Vice Principal, who confirmed that the school district had installed remote monitoring software that allowed it to activate the webcam of any of the Macbooks it provided to its 1800 students. Neither parents nor students were ever notified that this feature existed, nor were they provided with information on the school's remote monitoring policy.
In the wake of the incident, both the FBI and the DA of Montgomery County have announced they'll investigate to determine if privacy laws or federal regulations on remote wiretapping were violated through the school's actions. According to district spokesperson Doug Young, the school is vaguely aware it made a booboo. ""There was no specific notification given that described the security feature," Young said. "That... was a significant mistake."
Wearing one black sock and one blue sock is a mistake. Wearing one black sock, one white sock, and two different shoes when you're scheduled to give a presentation to the company CEO is a significant mistake. What Lower Merion has done falls under the category of "unbelievable world-class stupidity." Young insists that Lower Merion has only activated webcams in an attempt to find lost or stolen laptops, but there's a massive hole in that story. To date, the school has not challenged the issue at the heart of the lawsuit—namely, that the allegations of improper behavior on the part of Blake Robbins were made based on webcam evidence.
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As for the improper behavior itself, the family's attorney has stated that Blake was eating Mike and Ike's candy while using the computer. Legal experts and those possessed of common sense have jointly weighed in on the school district's behavior, noting the nearly limitless potential for abuse when the school district has the power to spy on its students at any time, place, or manner of its choosing. As a final bit of irony, we leave you with the last sentence of the flier originally distributed when the laptops were given out. "While other districts are exploring ways to make these kinds of incentives possible, our programs are already in place, it is no accident that we arrived ahead of the curve; in Lower Merion, our responsibility is to lead."
All we can say is, way to go.The original complaint filed by Blake's parents is here.