[Pennsylvania High School Uses Webcams to Spy on Students at Home]
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In May 2008, a woman in White Plains, NY recovered her stolen Macintosh laptop
by activating the Mac's webcam remotely and taking a picture of the thief. The
woman's apartment had been ransacked and burglarized April 27, 2008. Among the
items taken were two laptops, two flat-screen televisions, two iPods, gaming
consoles, DVDs and computer games. The theft was reported to police, but there
were no leads regarding the identity of the thieves.The Mac, however, had a program installed on it called "Back to My Mac," which
enables remote operation of the computer. In May 2008, the woman received a call
from a friend, asking if she was operating the computer at the time. The friend
showed the woman's computer as being connected to the internet (probably via an
on-line chat program). Realizing that the thieves were probably operating her
computer at the time, the woman activated her Mac's webcam remotely via the
"Back to My Mac" program. She attempted to take a photograph of the thief. At
first, all she got was an empty chair. Eventually, however, the thief returned
to the chair in front of the computer, and the woman got a picture of him. She
showed the picture around to her friends, and eventually managed to identify the
thief as Edmon Shahikian, an acquaintance of one of her friends. Shahikian had
attended a party in the woman's apartment some weeks before the robbery. Thanks
to the photograph, the woman eventually
managed to recover most of the items that were stolen from her apartment.Now, a high school in Pennsylvania is being accused of spying on its students at
home via a similar program. Harritan High School is part of the Lower Merion
School District in Ardmore, PA (a suburb of Philadelphia). The school issued
laptops to its students which had integrated webcams and a remote activation
program similar to "Back to My Mac." An assistant principal at Harritan High
School recently complained to a sophomore student, Blake Robbins, that he had
been engaging in "inappropriate behavior" with the laptop, which remains the
property of the school. The principal provided a photograph of the student,
taken in his home by remote activation of his laptop's webcam, as proof of the
student's "inappropriate behavior."Blake Robbins and his parents (Michael and Holly Robbins) are now suing Harritan
High School for the invasion of their privacy. They say the school never
informed them of the remote activation software, or that the school would be
spying on them in their home. The school claims the remote activation program on
the laptops is only ever used to help recover stolen computers. They are not
accusing Blake Robbins of attempting to steal the laptop which was issued to
him, however.The nature of the mysterious "inappropriate behavior" by Blake Robbins is not
being specified by either party. The Robbins lawsuit states in part, however:–---------- QUOTE ----------
"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, various stages or dress or undress."The school now says it has deactivated the security program on all of the
laptops it has issued to students. -
Here is a link to a video of the kid, talking to reporters: hXXp://www.4shared.com/file/226179557/3a4a59e3/BlakeRobbinsTalks.html
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:thx:
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WOW!
This school district is not too far from me. I'm seeing …
Federal officials have also stepped up their investigation of Lower Merion School District of Ardmore, Pa., according to reports published Saturday. The Associated Press said that the FBI was exploring whether district officials broke federal wiretapping and electronic surveillance laws, while the Philadelphia Inquirer cited sources who said federal prosecutors have subpoenaed documents from school officials.Two good news articles are at:
hXXp://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9159778/Irate_parents_in_Pa.say_schools_use_Peeping_Tom_technology?taxonomyId=12
hXXp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022202068.html
and over 1000 more available from
hXXp://news.google.com/news/more?um=1&cf=all&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dAI83523a8iKoEMkbe5b4Uol-Y6lM -
This is wrong on so many levels. First of all, what possible reason could they have for monitoring students outside of school? They have ZERO jurisdiction then! And if by some chance they had reason to do this, the ethical thing to do would have been to TELL THEM ABOUT IT FIRST. This is unacceptable in my opinion.
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An assistant principal at Harritan High
School recently complained to a sophomore student, Blake Robbins, that he had
been engaging in "inappropriate behavior" with the laptop, which remains the
property of the school. The principal provided a photograph of the student,
taken in his home by remote activation of his laptop's webcam, as proof of the
student's "inappropriate behavior."If the "inappropriate behaviour" in question was anything at all sexual, then it's quite possible that the alleged evidence held by the principal could be deemed kiddie porn (since the student is clearly under 18). If that's the case, I'd love to see the principal and his/her minions arrested (in full view of the students), handcuffed, and charged with felony possession of child pornography.
