Thursday, February 18th, 2010 10:16 am

Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania issued laptops to its high-school students and encouraged them to take them home.  Then it used the remotely-activatable webcams on the laptops to spy on the students and their families without their knowledge.  (Update:  Another story on it says webcam-equipped laptops were issued to 1,800 students at three high schools.)

A class-action lawsuit has been filed.  I hope the school administrators responsible go to jail for this.  There is absolutely no possible excuse whatsoever.  I won't be surprised if it turns out that some of the school administrators have their own private collections of the racier webcam shots, and if so, I predict they WILL be going to jail, on kiddie-porn charges.

Saturday, February 20th, 2010 11:28 pm (UTC)
This is a great idea! What could possibly go wrong?

(Alternate translation: Hold my beer, and watch this!)

If racier video exists on ANY server collecting data, someone will be held responsible. Have you heard any of the rationale for why someone thought this would be a good idea?
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 03:37 pm (UTC)
Yeah, I think this is a problem.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 03:38 pm (UTC)
F**k.

Jail isn't sufficient. I'd reach back into ancestral culture and hit them with "shunning." Kinda hard to stay in a community when nobody will talk to you . . .
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 03:54 pm (UTC)
This is totally unbelievable. Whose bright idea was this? Honestly, did they sit around a board table and say, "Wouldn't it be cool....?" "Idiots" doesn't quite cover it.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 04:27 pm (UTC)
Apparently they did.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 04:17 pm (UTC)
I love the bit where the Vice Principal blew the game by accusing a kid of "improper behavior in his home", citing a photo from one of the webcams as evidence. There's so many things wrong with that; when I was in high school the Vice Principal's discipline ended as soon as I set foot off school property.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 04:30 pm (UTC)
There was a recent case somewhere Midwest, I'm thinking, where a school suspended a student for having a shotgun in his truck which was parked OFF campus, and the school board overruled the principal and reversed the suspension. The principal then whined to the media about how "this is sending the message that the school board thinks principals don't have any authority off campus."


Guess what, asshat... YOU DON'T.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 04:30 pm (UTC)
By the way, how do I make sure the webcam on this iMac is turned off?

Thursday, February 18th, 2010 04:40 pm (UTC)
Honestly, damned if I know. I've never used an iMac; I've really never been a Mac person — the Mac UI has too many underlying design features that I strongly dislike. But the odds are good someone on my FL should be able to answer the question.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 04:52 pm (UTC)
Cover it with electrical tape. ;-)
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 05:29 pm (UTC)
I'd already figured *that* one out.

:-)

(Has the added advantage that They can't override it via malware.)
Friday, February 19th, 2010 06:08 pm (UTC)
Beat me to it, m'lady. ;)
Sunday, February 21st, 2010 12:42 am (UTC)
Nice! Sometimes the mechanical engineering fix is far better than the electrical or computer science solution.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 04:55 pm (UTC)
Good question. On my dell there is a led that lights up when I turn the camera on. No idea if it can be disabled in software.

You can always go low tech a put a piece of electrical tape over the lens though.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 08:45 pm (UTC)
As several folks have mentioned, covering the lens with something opaque is a low-tech, foolproof answer. I use a small adhesive bandage. The pad blocks light completely, and won't stick to/ruin the lens.

Microphone - not a good answer. The one machine I have with a microphone has an honest-to-Edison switch for it.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 04:51 pm (UTC)
Duct tape over the camera is a low-tech fix for the video -- I don't know about the audio.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 04:56 pm (UTC)
Audio fix - download a white noise generator (they make them to generate other noises, too, like pink noise) and set it to play on a continuous loop.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 05:39 pm (UTC)
i use a cut piece of postit, else risk damaging the lens

microphone, just plug a dummy unit in?

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Thursday, February 18th, 2010 07:51 pm (UTC)
What.The.Fuck.

I agree - talk about the kiddie p0rn potential and other invasive shiite. Sounds like serious lawsuits and potential BIG jail time.

Friday, February 19th, 2010 01:02 am (UTC)
"oh no they dident"

guess they did...

i know a few parents, that if they thought a pedophile was taking pictures via installed camera, there would be some fresh lime pits that very night...

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Sunday, February 21st, 2010 12:45 am (UTC)
All our computers run in the public areas of the house. Low tech, but it prevents other problems teenagers may be inclined to find on the internet. But, yeah, I understand their sentiment.
Sunday, February 21st, 2010 03:26 am (UTC)
how about this?

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2008/12/galveston_false_arrest.php

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/01/dymond_milburn_galveston.php

http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2009/02/update-on-dymond-milburn.html

STILL going on:
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/01/dymond_milburn_galveston_polic.php

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Dymond%20Milburn

creepy times

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Edited 2010-02-21 03:33 am (UTC)