School sued for spying on students through webcam

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 22 Feb 2010 at 08:48

A US school spied on its students through the webcams of their laptops, according to court documents.

Harriton high school in Pennsylvania issued 2,300 high school students with Apple laptops last year, and fitted them with security software intended to track lost or stolen laptops.

However, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in a Pennsylvania court, Blake Robbins was told off by his teacher for "engaging in improper behaviour in his home" with footage captured from the webcam used as evidence.

Many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions

Robbins was allegedly warned that the school could remotely activate the webcam any time it wanted to ensure the laptops were being used correctly. The Robbins family swiftly filed suit.

"As the laptops at issue were routinely used by students and family members while at home, it is believed and therefore averred that many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, in various stages of dress or undress," the filing alleged.

Schools Superintendent Christopher McGinley has denied the allegations in the lawsuit. "The security feature's capabilities were limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen," he wrote on the school's website.

"This feature was only used for the narrow purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District never activated the security feature for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever."