Suit: Pa. school used webcams to spy on students

February 19, 2010 06:29


By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press Writer Thu Feb 18, 9:55 pm ET

PHILADELPHIA – A suburban Philadelphia school district used the webcams in school-issued laptops to spy on students at home, potentially catching them and their families in compromising situations, a family claims in a federal lawsuit.

Lower Merion School District officials said the laptops “contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops,” and that the feature was deactivated Thursday. Angry students had already responded by putting tape on their laptop cameras and microphones.

Sophomore Tom Halpern described students as “pretty disgusted,” and noted that his class recently read “1984,” the George Orwell classic that coined the term “Big Brother.”

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