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School gives laptops to students, allegedly uses them to spy on students via webcam

post #1 of 6
2/20/10 at 1:44am
Thread Starter 
A prosperous school district in Pennsylvania gave the students Mac laptops. Apparently these laptops come loaded with software wherein the built-in webcams can be activated. This is used to try to catch any potential thieves of the laptop. It's alleged that the school used this software to spy on at least one child in his home, accusing him of "improper behavior at home", and used a photograph taken from the webcam as proof.

If this is true, and it appears as if it is, this is beyond the pale! Who would ever think that they would have the right to spy on a child in their own home? It makes you wonder how many kids they did spy on. It makes my skin crawl to think about it.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/ho...er_webcam.html
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post #2 of 6
2/20/10 at 5:15am
So creepy and really, really wrong.
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post #3 of 6
2/20/10 at 8:44am
For some reason this happening doesn't surprise me. Ever since Columbine and other similar incidents schools and districts have been trying to find more and more ways to monitor the behavior of students. What disturbs me is that some schools have been trying to control and discipline kids for behavior that occurs off-campus. I can understand using the cameras as an anti-theft device but shouldn't those cameras only be used IF the laptop is stolen?

I remember reading about a different off-campus case regarding a student who made comments about not liking a teacher on Facebook and she was removed from her advanced placement testing and suspended by the principal even though there wasn't anything lewd, threatening, disruptive, or vulgar, or violent about her comments. A judge ruled that her comments were protected by free speech.
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post #4 of 6
2/20/10 at 9:37am
I guess the kid had been eating candy in his *bedroom*, which they mistook for drugs... in his bedroom! Now just imagine what a teenage boy might be doing in his bedroom, or any teenager really. To have someone remotely activate a webcam? I'm thinking child porn here. What the heck was this school thinking?
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post #5 of 6
2/21/10 at 1:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by esrgirl View Post
To have someone remotely activate a webcam? I'm thinking child porn here. What the heck was this school thinking?
That was exactly my thought! Isn't it the high school girl that is basically the epitome of beauty and sexuality that is being perpetuated by Hollywood et al? How easy would it be for someone to record a girl doing something as innocuous as getting undressed for bed, or getting ready for school in the morning, and sell it online?
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post #6 of 6
2/21/10 at 3:06pm
Sounds Orwellian.
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