Lawsuit: US school spied on students AT HOME via laptops

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/6875025.html
Lawsuit: US school spied on students via laptops
Feb. 19, 2010, 7:08AM

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

Officials at the school district can activate webcams on the computers without students' knowledge or permission, the lawsuit alleges. Plaintiffs Michael and Holly Robbins suspect the cameras captured students and family members as they undressed and in other embarrassing situations, according to the suit.

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.

"We can categorically state that we are and have always been committed to protecting the privacy of our students," he said.

Tom Halpern, a 15-year-old sophomore from Wynnewood, said students are "pretty disgusted" and have started putting masking tape over their computer webcams and microphones.

"This is just bogus," Halpern said. "I just think it's really despicable that they have the ability to just watch me all the time."

The accusations amount to potentially illegal electronic wiretapping, said Witold J. Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, which is not involved in the case.

"School officials cannot, any more than police, enter into the home either electronically or physically without an invitation or a warrant," Walczak said.

A school district statement released late Thursday said the tracking feature would not be reactivated "without express written notification to all students and families."

The affluent district prides itself on its technology initiatives, which include giving laptops to each of the approximately 2,300 students at its two high schools.

Superintendent Christopher W. McGinley did not immediately return a message left Thursday by The Associated Press.

The Robbinses said they learned of the alleged webcam images when Lindy Matsko, an assistant high school principal, told their son that school officials thought he had engaged in improper behavior at home. The behavior was not specified in the suit.

Matsko "cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in minor plaintiff's personal laptop issued by the school district," the lawsuit states.

Matsko later confirmed to Michael Robbins that the school had the ability to activate the webcams remotely, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday and which seeks class-action status.

The Robbinses declined to speak with an Associated Press reporter at their home Thursday. Their lawyer, Mark S. Haltzman, did not return messages.

The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the privacy of the home when it ruled in 2001 that police could not, without a warrant, use thermal imaging equipment outside a home to see if heat lamps were being used inside to grow marijuana. Technology or no, Supreme Court precedents draw "a firm line at the entrance to the house," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, quoting an earlier case.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/189797/pennsylvania_school_accused_of_cyberspying_on_students.html
Pennsylvania School Accused of Cyberspying on Students

Brennon Slattery, PC World

Feb 19, 2010 9:12 am

A Philadelphia-area school district finds itself under scrutiny after remotely activating a MacBook Web cam and capturing a young student engaging in "improper behavior at home." The student was confronted by a Harrington High School official and shown photographs of his actions. These photographs set off privacy alarms and have led to a class-action lawsuit alleging that the school district has been spying on its students in their homes.

Christopher McGinley, the superintendent of Lower Merion School District of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, released a statement yesterday admitting the MacBook cameras could be remotely activated without the user's knowledge. McGinley claimed the remote camera activation was meant as a theft-prevention measure. "The District has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever," McGinley said.

In a letter on the Lower Merton School District's Web site, McGinley offers the draft of a revised plan addressing security concerns, promising:

    * Immediate disabling of the security-tracking program.
    * A thorough review of the existing policies for student laptop use.
    * A review of security procedures to help safeguard the protection of privacy, including a review of the instances in which the security software was activated. We want to ensure that any affected students and families are made aware of the outcome of laptop recovery investigations.
    * A review of any other technology areas in which the intersection of privacy and security may come into play.

"We regret if this situation has caused any concern or inconvenience among our students and families," McGinley added.

But "inconvenience" may be too soft a word. If the photographs of the young boy in question are of a sexual nature, Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al could turn into a case of child pornography.

The MacBooks were distributed to all 2300 students in the Lower Merton School District, much like a similar program enacted in Maine. The shame that could result if this explosive incident is true could damage the school's 1:1 laptop donation project and possibly sully the project's reputation nationwide.

Needless to say, this is a serious case. Many measures could've been implemented to avoid such a situation. ZDNet describes a few, including respecting a student's privacy when he or she is at home and informing parents of the remote control feature. Waivers should've been signed, school boards should've held meetings -- with so many cautionary measures to abide by, it's a mystery why this school district supposedly chose to ignore them all.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021902004.html
Pa. school: Webcams used 42 times to find laptops
(Video Available)
By MARYCLAIRE DALE
The Associated Press
Friday, February 19, 2010; 3:14 PM

PHILADELPHIA -- A Pennsylvania school district says it remotely activated webcams 42 times to find missing student laptops, but never did so to spy on students, as a lawsuit claims.

Lower Merion School District spokesman Doug Young says the district recovered 28 of those laptops over 14 months. The others remain missing. The district has about 2,300 student laptops.

A high school student accused the school in a federal lawsuit this week of turning on his laptop camera while it was inside his home.

Young tells The Associated Press that only two technology department employees were authorized to activate the cameras - and only to locate missing laptops.

He says Lower Merion school officials did not tell students and parents about the security technique.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A suburban Philadelphia school district accused of spying on students at home via school-issued computers told parents it only activated the webcams to find missing laptops.

The schools' technology and security departments would activate the webcam when any of the 2,300 student laptops were reported lost or stolen, Lower Merion School District Superintendent Christopher McGinley said. He posted the letter to parents on the district Web site late Thursday, amid widespread student outrage and the filing of a potential class-action lawsuit alleging wiretap and privacy violations.
"The security feature's capabilities were limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen. This feature was only used for the narrow purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop," McGinley wrote. "The District never activated the security feature for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever."

Student Blake Robbins and his parents filed the electronic-privacy suit came after an assistant principal at Harriton High School told him the camera had caught him doing something inappropriate at home. Michael Robbins, his father, confirmed with the educator that the school could activate the webcams remotely, the lawsuit said.

The affluent suburban district issues laptops to all students at its two high schools, Harriton and Lower Merion High School.

The suit did not indicate that Blake Robbins's laptop had ever been reported lost or stolen. Neither the district nor family lawyer Mark Haltzman immediately returned phone messages Friday morning, and the family has declined to comment on the suit, which was filed Tuesday in federal court in Philadelphia.
Experts in electronic privacy law believe the district's actions could amount to illegal wiretapping.

"I think they had to get consent to take photos," said University of San Francisco law professor Susan Friewald, who writes on the issue.

"It seems like a great idea to have the school issue a laptop," she said. "(But) if the school districts are going to use them to spy on students, we should certainly be concerned."

The security feature allows district personnel to remotely activate the webcam and take a picture of the user and the computer screen. That information can then be used to track down a laptop that has been reported stolen or missing.

Lower Merion spokesman Doug Young confirmed Friday that the district believes the webcams were only used in isolated instances of reported theft or loss. Nonetheless, a review is underway of both the activations and the policy.

"We're proud of taking the lead with this initiative, and giving laptops to students, but anytime you're talking about technology and education and kids, there's an important conversation to be had about privacy and balance," Young told The Associated Press on Friday.

"We've taken pause over the last day and gone back and begun to review everything that's related to our policies and procedures," he said.

He could not discuss details of the Robbins lawsuit. However, he said district officials do not believe anyone violated the activation policy.

"We intend to vigorously defend ourselves and we intend to prevail (in the suit)," Young said.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/FBI-Investigates-Webcam-Spy-Allegations-Against-School-451724/
FBI Investigates Webcam Spy Allegations Against School
By: Brian Prince
2010-02-21
The FBI is investigating allegations made against the Lower Merion School District in a lawsuit by the parents of a student. The lawsuit claims school officials used a remote-controlled Webcam to spy on their son, a high school student.


According to multiple media reports, the FBI is probing accusations made against the Lower Merion School District by Michael and Holly Robbins of Penn Valley, Pa. The Robbins family filed a lawsuit alleging the district spied on their son, Blake, who is a student at Harriton High School, using a webcam included on a school-issued laptop. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office is looking into the accusations as well.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022202068.html
Pa. school district is asked not to wipe computers
February 22, 2010

[MuffyBee]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/breaking/Lower-Merion-Webcam-Settlement-104746984.html?dr
 School District Settles WebcamGate
Settlement worth more than $600,000
October 12, 2010

Lower Merion School District has settled the webcam case that made national headlines after students accused school officials of spying by using the webcam installed on school-issued laptops.

The School District Board approved a $610,000 settlement Monday night.

Board President David Ebby explained on the district website why they settled:

    We believe this settlement enables us to move forward in a way that is most sensitive to our students, taxpayers and the entire school district community. The agreement is comprehensive, and effectively resolves all components of the laptop litigation, including the Robbins and Hasan cases and the Graphic Arts insurance case. It is the product of a lengthy, court-ordered mediation involving the active participation of Judge DuBois and Chief Magistrate Judge Reuter. The terms of the agreement have been thoroughly reviewed in a number of executive sessions over the past few weeks. Throughout the entire process, the Board has aggressively sought to protect the interests of our taxpayers.

    Earlier this summer, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI and the Montgomery County District Attorney cleared the District, and its employees - current and former -- of any criminal wrongdoing. That was an important moment for us -- it confirmed the results of an independent investigation and the District's own initial findings. The District acknowledged and apologized for any mistakes and addressed them immediately. We revised our policies and procedures, reaffirmed our commitment to technology and put safeguards into place to ensure the privacy of our students, staff and school families.
Ebby claimed that a recent insurance agreement played a large part in the timing of the settlement:

    A major impetus behind settling this matter now is the recent agreement by our insurance carrier, Graphic Arts, to cover more than $1.2M of the fees and costs associated with this litigation to date. The proposed settlement costs include $175,000 to be placed in a trust for Blake Robbins, $10,000 for Jalil Hassan and $425,000 for plaintiff's counsel. This settlement is not under seal because as a public entity, we have a responsibility to report all terms of the agreement.

Back in February investigators began to look into WebcamGate after Harriton High School student Blake Robbins and his parents filed a lawsuit accusing officials of remotely taking video and photos through Robbins’ school-issued MacBook.

As many as 1,800 Lower Merion School District students from Lower Merion and Harriton High Schools were given the MacBook notebooks as part of a school program.

The case gained national attention and put into question Harriton’s and Lower Merion’s laptop program.