Little Brother - School Authorities and Surveilance

[DontSayBanana]

I wouldn't buy a laptop that didn't have an integrated webcam.  For myself at least

I won't buy one that does; too risky, and it tends to add a good $40-50 to ticket price, while a decent clip-on webcam will only set you back $10-20.

[Martinus]

I wouldn't buy a laptop that didn't have an integrated webcam.  For myself at least

I won't buy one that does; too risky.

[DisturbedPervert]

[garbon]

I wouldn't buy a laptop that didn't have an integrated webcam.  For myself at least

I won't buy one that does; too risky.

Webcams are for perverts.

[Razgovory]

Though it only seems to be Admiral Popeye.

[jimmy olsen]

This latest news doesn't look good for the school.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/20/AR2010022000679.html

Official: FBI probing Pa. school webcam spy case

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
The Associated Press
Saturday, February 20, 2010; 4:58 AM

PHILADELPHIA -- A Pennsylvania school district accused of secretly switching on laptop computer webcams inside students' homes is under investigation by federal authorities, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press.

The FBI will look into whether any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws were violated by Lower Merion School District officials, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the investigation, told the AP on Friday.

Days after a student filed suit over the practice, Lower Merion officials acknowledged Friday that they remotely activated webcams 42 times in the past 14 months, but only to find missing student laptops. They insist they never did so to spy on students, as the student's family claimed in the federal lawsuit.

Families were not informed of the possibility the webcams might be activated in their homes without their permission in the paperwork students sign when they get the computers, district spokesman Doug Young said.

"It's clear what was in place was insufficient, and that's unacceptable," Young said.

The district has suspended the practice amid the lawsuit and the accompanying uproar from students, the community and privacy advocates. District officials hired outside counsel to review the past webcam activations and advise the district on related issues, Young said.

Remote-activation software can be used to capture keystrokes, send commands over the Internet or turn computers into listening devices by turning on built-in microphones. People often use it for legitimate purposes - to access computers from remote locations, for example. But hackers can use it to steal passwords and spouses to track the whereabouts of partners or lovers.

The Pennsylvania case shows how even well-intentioned plans can go awry if officials fail to understand the technology and its potential consequences, privacy experts said. Compromising images from inside a student's bedroom could fall into the hands of rogue school staff or otherwise be spread across the Internet, they said.

"What about the (potential) abuse of power from higher ups, trying to find out more information about the head of the PTA?" wondered Ari Schwartz, vice president at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "If you don't think about the privacy and security consequences of using this kind of technology, you run into problems."

The FBI opened its investigation after news of the suit broke on Thursday, the law-enforcement official said. Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman may also investigate, she said Friday.

Lower Merion, an affluent district in Philadelphia's suburbs, issues Apple laptops to all 2,300 students at its two high schools. Only two employees in the technology department were authorized to activate the cameras - and only to locate missing laptops, Young said. The remote activations captured images but never recorded sound, he said.

No one had complained before Harriton High School student Blake Robbins and his parents, Michael and Holly Robbins, filed their lawsuit Tuesday, he said.

According to the suit, Harriton vice principal Lindy Matsko told Blake on Nov. 11 that the school thought he was "engaged in improper behavior in his home." She allegedly cited as evidence a photograph "embedded" in his school-issued laptop.

The suit does not say if the boy's laptop had been reported stolen, and Young said the litigation prevents him from disclosing that fact. He said the district never violated its policy of only using the remote-activation software to find missing laptops. "Infer what you want," Young said.

The suit accuses the school of turning on Blake's webcam while the computer was inside his Penn Valley home, allegedly violating wiretap laws and his right to privacy.

Blake Robbins told KYW-TV on Friday that a school official described him in his room and mistook a piece of candy for a pill.

"She described what I was doing," he said. "She said she thought I had pills and said she thought that I was selling drugs."

Robbins said he was holding a Mike and Ike candy, not pills.

Holly Robbins said a school official told her that she had a picture of Blake holding up what she thought were pills.

"It was an invasion of privacy; it was like we had a Peeping Tom in our house," Holly Robbins told WPVI-TV. "I send my son to school to learn, not to be spied on."

Neither the family nor their lawyer, Mark Haltzman, returned calls from The Associated Press for comments this week.

The remote activations helped the district locate 28 of the 42 missing computers, Young said. He could not immediately say whether the technology staff was authorized to share the images with Matsko or other officials.

Either way, the potential for abuse is nearly limitless, especially because many teens keep their computers in their bedrooms, experts said.

"This is an age where kids explore their sexuality, so there's a lot of that going on in the room," said Witold Walczak, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, which is not involved in the Robbins case. "This is fodder for child porn."

[Jaron]

Does this person quoted at the very end feel that all previous ages did not involve teenagers exploring their sexuality?

[Martinus]

Of course they didn't. This generation is the worst.

[dps]

The suit accuses the school of turning on Blake's webcam while the computer was inside his Penn Valley home, allegedly violating wiretap laws and his right to privacy.

Blake Robbins told KYW-TV on Friday that a school official described him in his room and mistook a piece of candy for a pill.

"She described what I was doing," he said. "She said she thought I had pills and said she thought that I was selling drugs."

Robbins said he was holding a Mike and Ike candy, not pills.

Holly Robbins said a school official told her that she had a picture of Blake holding up what she thought were pills.

OK, if true, the school officials just got even stupider.  Suppose it was a pill;  how do you leap to the conclusion that it was some type of recreational drugs and that the kid was dealing, rather than some legit medication?

These people not only need to lose their jobs and be subject to civil suit, they need to be forced to wear a dunce cap in public.

[Martinus]

Does this person quoted at the very end feel that all previous ages did not involve teenagers exploring their sexuality?

LOL I read the quote now and either you misunderstood or you are trolling. The "age" referred to in the quote did not mean 2010 but 12-13.

[Martinus]

The suit accuses the school of turning on Blake's webcam while the computer was inside his Penn Valley home, allegedly violating wiretap laws and his right to privacy.

Blake Robbins told KYW-TV on Friday that a school official described him in his room and mistook a piece of candy for a pill.

"She described what I was doing," he said. "She said she thought I had pills and said she thought that I was selling drugs."

Robbins said he was holding a Mike and Ike candy, not pills.

Holly Robbins said a school official told her that she had a picture of Blake holding up what she thought were pills.

OK, if true, the school officials just got even stupider.  Suppose it was a pill;  how do you leap to the conclusion that it was some type of recreational drugs and that the kid was dealing, rather than some legit medication?

These people not only need to lose their jobs and be subject to civil suit, they need to be forced to wear a dunce cap in public.

Assuming there was no foul play involved (as in this being set up by a pedophile or something), this is just another example of the "think of the children" madness, where one principle ("protect children from harm") runs amok, because people do not realise it has to be checked by all other principles and values, such as the right to privacy and individual freedom. People have a hard time living in a multi-faceted word, so they just pick one cause and run with it.

[DontSayBanana]

It's fairly well documented that integrated webcams can be remotely activated (and now the school has admitted that they have done it).  And people tend not to take seriously how risky an Internet connection is; consider the early Windows XP worm that bugged "remote assistance" to allow a remote takeover of the computer.  I'm not Internet-phobic, obviously, but P2P/torrents and webcams are risky things to have connected to the Internet.

[Martinus]

Let's assume for the moment the improbable of someone managing to hack your system and then specifically targeting and watching your webcam feed while you are at your computer (I assume you close your laptop when you are not using it).

How exactly is this a security risk warranting such a ridiculously over-careful response (other than a potential lawsuit from the hacker).

[dps]

Let's assume for the moment the improbable of someone managing to hack your system and then specifically targeting and watching your webcam feed while you are at your computer (I assume you close your laptop when you are not using it).

How exactly is this a security risk warranting such a ridiculously over-careful response (other than a potential lawsuit from the hacker).

How exactly is buying a forgoing an intergrated webcam in favor of a cheaper clip-on a "ridiculously over-careful response"?

[grumbler]

How exactly is buying a forgoing an intergrated webcam in favor of a cheaper clip-on a "ridiculously over-careful response"?

Your proposed solution is not shrill and illogical, so of course it sucks by shrillogical standards.