PA School Spied On Students Via School-Issued Laptop Webcams

[rich8483]

how could this idea have gotten past numerous people and no one thought it was a bad idea?

 

[evansvillethompsongunner]

The thing I find most concerning is the sheer number of people who had to be involved and not a single one of them stopped to say "Hmm, this isn't right..."

The Milgram Experiments hold the answer.

 

[eldirector]

Just remember in business this would be perfectly legal. Maybe not in a school unless the paperwork to pick up the laptop addressed the issue either directly or indirectly.

Perfectly legal for business purposes only, and with adults, and with my consent.

Record me at home without consent? Unlawful recording, voyeurism (if you catch me in my shorts - though that is punishment enough), child explotation (if you catch my kids in their undies), computer trespass, distribution of pornography (any of those "shorts" pictures that got copied or emailed), and likely others that I am not thinking of.

These are felonies, folks. This isn't an "oops".

 

[JBusch8899]

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[alwalker84]

Hmmm...

My job just gave me a new laptop with a built in webcam a few weeks ago.

If my boss calls me to the office, im going to save him the trouble and just go home.

 

[theweakerbrother]

I don't think that child sex crimes should be the ONLY punishable offense for those involved with this. Privacy and anonymity should be honored and when violated, punished.

Granted, if it is the school's property then they have the right to use their technology while at school to monitor children if it was part of the agreement to use the technology. This, however, should never be extended to the home and is a completely different ballgame.

I'm curious to hear more of the story.

 

[theweakerbrother]

The thing I find most concerning is the sheer number of people who had to be involved and not a single one of them stopped to say "Hmm, this isn't right..."

Ever read about the Stanford Prision Experiment and other studies done to see how far people will go just because 'the authority' tells them to do so?

 

[Scutter01]

Granted, if it is the school's property then they have the right to use their technology while at school to monitor children if it was part of the agreement to use the technology.

I disagree 100%. There is no case you can present to me that would convince me that using a laptop's camera and microphone to secretly monitor my child is a good thing. You wanna put cameras in the classroom where everyone knows they're there? Well, I have a problem with that, too, but I will at least discuss their merits.

We are conditioning our kids to accept a 100% surveillance society, and the fact that you see no problem with covertly monitoring as long as it's only in class scares the crap out of me. You should be fighting this tooth and nail.

 

[Don]

The simple solution would be to put a piece of tape over the webcam and remove the offending software.

 

[Scutter01]

The simple solution would be to put a piece of tape over the webcam and remove the offending software.

That cures the symptom, but doesn't cure the disease. And in all likelihood, the students wouldn't be able to uninstall or disable the software without reformatting the hard drive, since the laptops are likely to be locked down via security policies.

Worse, how would the students know to tape over the webcam? The whole program was clandestine. No one knew they were surveilling the kids.

 

[evansvillethompsongunner]

That cures the symptom, but doesn't cure the disease. And in all likelihood, the students wouldn't be able to uninstall or disable the software without reformatting the hard drive, since the laptops are likely to be locked down via security policies.

Worse, how would the students know to tape over the webcam? The whole program was clandestine. No one knew they were surveilling the kids.

TPM probably would lock out any changes, if they've gone so far as to install malware...

and for the uninitiated, a link:
Trusted Platform Module - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[theweakerbrother]

I disagree 100%. There is no case you can present to me that would convince me that using a laptop's camera and microphone to secretly monitor my child is a good thing. You wanna put cameras in the classroom where everyone knows they're there? Well, I have a problem with that, too, but I will at least discuss their merits.

We are conditioning our kids to accept a 100% surveillance society, and the fact that you see no problem with covertly monitoring as long as it's only in class scares the crap out of me. You should be fighting this tooth and nail.

I don't see it as much different with 'tattlers' on company vehicles. It isn't really yours and you should be using it except for 'company' business. Of course, I don't think I'd want to work for a company that uses those either.

Like INGO though, their house/equipment; their rules. Don't like them? Don't use their tech. Bring your own laptop, use it and monitor your kids yourself.

What I am most shocked about in this thread is that people did NOT expect the school to abuse the computer to invade privacy/lives of their students.

I do strongly agree with you on the conditioning treatment of students... I already think students are conditioned to submit to authority and to do so blindly. Male children are emasculated, revisionist history is taught and women are taught to not value their families/bodies. I will certainly give your post more thought because it might persuade me to rethink my position.

 

[SKSnut]

good thing that could never happen here in Indiana(read as purple text)

 

[Scutter01]

I don't see it as much different with 'tattlers' on company vehicles. It isn't really yours and you should be using it except for 'company' business. Of course, I don't think I'd want to work for a company that uses those either.

Like INGO though, their house/equipment; their rules. Don't like them? Don't use their tech. Bring your own laptop, use it and monitor your kids yourself.

I have (little) problem if the kids are given the choice. Apparently, nobody but school officials knew that they had the ability to turn the cameras on remotely or that they were using it to spy on the students in their own homes. How are you given a choice in that?

It's not about having the camera, it's about who's in control of the button and under what circumstances.

 

[hornadylnl]

Why are schools providing laptops to begin with?

 

[Scutter01]

Why are schools providing laptops to begin with?

Oh, holy cow, don't even get me STARTED on that little boondoggle. I have to bring in $150 worth of supplies (pencils, kleenex, markers, etc.) and also pay $150 book rental fees. I'd be ticked if the school started handing out lappies.

 

[JBusch8899]

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[hornadylnl]

I wonder how many of these students have been seen naked through these laptops by school officials. Clearly they had the opportunity. Anyone with access to that system should be investigated and hopefully some heads will roll.

 

[Benny]

I wonder how many of these students have been seen naked through these laptops by school officials. Clearly they had the opportunity. Anyone with access to that system should be investigated and hopefully some heads will roll.

This was the first thing I thought of...Putting myself in the shoe's of the parents with teenage daughters makes me cringe.

 

[dburkhead]

And two other folk among my "friends" list on Facebook have posted this story (as have I). Looks like it's going viral.