Here, all you technologies-of-discipline lovers
everywhere, read 'em and weep...
(also see the court filing pdf at * <!-- /* Style
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http://craphound.com/robbins17.pdf)
School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at
school and home
By Cory Doctorow at 11:49 PM February 17, 2010
According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion
School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to
high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have
webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools'
administrators, who have used this facility to spy on
students and even their families. The issue came to light
when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper
behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo
taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class
action, brought on behalf of all students issued with
these machines.
If true, these allegations are about as creepy as they
come. I don't know about you, but I often have the laptop
in the room while I'm getting dressed, having private
discussions with my family, and so on. The idea that a
school district would not only spy on its students'
clickstreams and emails (bad enough), but also use these
machines as AV bugs is purely horrifying.
Schools are in an absolute panic about kids divulging too
much online, worried about pedos and marketers and
embarrassing photos that will haunt you when you run for
office or apply for a job in 10 years. They tell kids to
treat their personal details as though they were precious.
But when schools take that personal information,
indiscriminately invading privacy (and, of course,
punishing students who use proxies and other privacy tools
to avoid official surveillance), they send a much more
powerful message: your privacy is worthless and you
shouldn't try to protect it.
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Dr Jon Cloke
Lecturer
Geography Department
Loughborough University
Loughborough LE11 3TU
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel: 00 44 07984 813681
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