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PA School Spied On Students Via School-Issued Laptop Webcams

jargon82 writes "A Pennsylvania high school is using laptops they issued to students to spy on them in homes and outside of school. According to a class action filling the webcams and microphones in these laptops could be remotely activated by school officials, and have been used in this role. One student was accused of 'improper behavior in his home' and the school provided a photo taken via his laptop as proof."

17 of 941 comments (clear)

  1. I dont see the problem here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They were obviously trying to weed out all those terrorists, commies, subversives or whatever the government is at war with this time.
    Its better to start at an early age.
    I cant wait until they can scan foetal DNA to find out if its going to be a paedophile or terrorist.

    1. Re:I dont see the problem here by sconeu · · Score: 2, Funny

      They were obviously trying to weed out all those terrorists, commies, subversives or whatever the government is at war with this time.

      No, this is PA, not South Carolina.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  2. Re:Turn it around by skine · · Score: 5, Funny

    But I was only recording the students' every action!

    How could I have known they'd undress at some point?

  3. Re:Tape by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    These guys were taping the kids, and look where it got them!

  4. This is too protect the children by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Does anyone see some child porn charges coming here?

    Quite the opposite. These Web cams were meant to protect the children, so that if any inappropriate sexual behavior is observed, included but not limited to self-abuse, we can stop it before harm is done. If these kids and their families have nothing to hide then they won't mind being observed. It's all for the safety and in the best interests of the teenagers. And yes, teenagers are NOT adults, so they shouldn't be expected to have the same privacy rights as adults. They need to be protected. If you are a parent who is against incest then you would want all your school officials to have Webcam access to your home. Parents have Parental controls for kids, and teachers, who act as guardians, have the same responsibility to Think of the Children.

    1. Re:This is too protect the children by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Masturbation is not self-abuse.

      You've never seen the way I do it.*

      *Unless you have remote access to my webcams.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    2. Re:This is too protect the children by sa1lnr · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm hoping your nick isn't a clue.

    3. Re:This is too protect the children by Red+Flayer · · Score: 2, Funny

      Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

      Let's just say that the previous mention of duct tape, WD-40, and vice grips only describes the half of it.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  5. Re:Turn it around by martas · · Score: 3, Funny

    yeah, and my cat's really into CP.

  6. Re:If you read the filing... by British · · Score: 3, Funny

    "...it's actually quite interesting. I have a feeling that the folks who are looking to see child porn charges pressed might actually get their way. According to the"

    And knowing the IQ of most DAs in matters like this, the students will be pressed with charges of distributing, but the watchers won't be charged with anything.

  7. Re:Logistics? by howe.chris · · Score: 1, Funny

    No, they just look at the teenage girls with boobies.

    They had the computer club look over the footage. I would like to see the multi monitor setup in these kids homes.

    I could see the school district saying. "The computer club students were really good kids. They had straight A's before we gave them this task. I haven't really seen any of them in school since though. They must really be taking their handy work seriously."

  8. Re:What does inappropriate behavior mean? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    We accidently killed our kitten while having sex when mom rolled over... she's a big girl.

  9. Re:Don't take candy from the government by smellsofbikes · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is why you don't want "free" computers from the government...

    Um, I don't think you'd want "free" computers from a for-profit company either. Nothing is for free.

    How about herpes?

    --
    Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
  10. Re:Tape by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2, Funny

    they'll probably get $0.50 each per month for the rest of their lives

    A million dollars is more like $1500/mo given average life expectancy.

    Oh, you meant after lawyers fees. ;)

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
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  11. Funny comment on the bottom of the page by codepunk · · Score: 2, Funny

    Having been a school IT manager for years I find the fact that you would be able to enable a webcam on a specific machine outside of schools network a little far fetched unless you had some pretty elaborate software or pretty serious intent (Like a warrant).

    This guy is certainly MCSE material, certainly speaks volumes about the level of skill of our child educators.

    elaborate software, he must mean like wget and cron....ba ha ha ha ha...

    --


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  12. Re:Waterfall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm sure it is just a coincidence that she was the only black person on the bus.

    She must have been messing up the white balance in the camera . . .

  13. Re:Tape by Kalriath · · Score: 2, Funny

    Free rotting fruit provided for free.

    As opposed to...?

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    For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".