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Lower Merion School District issues response to webcam spying allegations
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
Lower Merion School District issues response to webcam spying allegations
As a few of our astute Cloggers have pointed out, the Lower Merion School District issued a statement yesterday at 5:30 p.m. in response to allegations that the district had spied on a student via a webcam:
Dear LMSD Community,
Last year, our district became one of the first school systems in the United States to provide laptop computers to all high school students. This initiative has been well received and has provided educational benefits to our students.
The District is dedicated to protecting and promoting student privacy. The laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. This feature has been deactivated effective today.
The following questions and answers help explain the background behind the initial decision to install the tracking-security feature, its limited use, and next steps.
• Why are webcams installed on student laptops?
The Apple computers that the District provides to students come equipped with webcams and students are free to utilize this feature for educational purposes.
• Why was the remote tracking-security feature installed?
Laptops are a frequent target for theft in schools and off school property. The security feature was installed to help locate a laptop in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student.
• How did the security feature work?
Upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature was activated by the District's security and technology departments. The tracking-security feature was limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen. This feature has only been used for the limited purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever.
• Do you anticipate reactivating the tracking-security feature?
Not without express written notification to all students and families.
We regret if this situation has caused any concern or inconvenience among our students and families. We are reviewing the matter and will provide an additional update as soon as information becomes available.
Sincerely,
Dr. Christopher McGinley
Superintendent
The school district and Blake Robbins' lawyer have not returned our calls.
RELATED: Dept. of Holy Shit: Big Brother is watching, kids (now, with an update!)
Is the school denying completely that the incident occurred, or are they trying to imply that the kid who complained stole the laptop which took his picture?
So, if the computer was not reported lost or stolen, then why did they take a picture of the teen? The explanation stinks.
It has already been disclosed by the school that they have done this not one time but 42 times. Also, according to http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=7288199 The students family claims the "improper behavior" of their son was a photo of him and Mike and Ikes candy, but the principal thought he was doing/selling pills. Even if the kid stole the laptop- like the school and is inferring, it would be a police matter. You cannot violate someone's else's rights because you suspect them of stealing. They should have alerted the police and had them get a warrant.
[...] story is everywhere (Huffington Post, Boing Boing, New Zealand Herald, CNET, Philadelphia City Paper etc). A school district is being sued for spying on its 2300 students (and their families) at home [...]
i feel the school district has a right to protect its property. maybe they could have handled this thing differently, by asking students and parents to sign a form stating that they understood the web cams could be activated by the district to help them find lost or stolen computers. If the parents and students chose not to sign, then no computer for them. We live in a litigious society and the school should know better before doing something like this, especially since they cater to a group of people that like to stand behind lawyers rather then face the music cause by their own twisted sense of entitlement.
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