Spying school district update: remote webcam functionality disabled, two IT monkeys suspended
By Tim Stevens 
posted March 9th 2010 9:17AM
posted March 9th 2010 9:17AM
posted March 9th 2010 9:17AM
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I still want to know who could have POSSIBLY thought that this would be a good idea. And if I remember they punished a kid for something he did WHILE at home, that they caught on the webcam? Seriously, who the fuck are these people running this school, and what kind of righteous indignation are they filled with?
They just fire everyone there, and start anew.
@Prevacator
I wish they'd do an extensive investigation of who did what, and send SOMEONE to jail.
@Prevacator
I think the problems started when they conceived of the poor idea to hand out free laptops.
The way I see it, this went down two ways:
a) The IT guys were working completely independently of the school and should be fired.
b) The IT guys were working as guided by the administration.
IT people don't decide how to use the hardware, they just provide it the capability to do as requested by their superior(s). Morality vs Loyalty aside, Considering how much the school was trying to defend the usage of the webcams, I'm betting b is how it happened, and those above are just trying to relocate the blame.
Couple of items:
1. The two IT guys were placed on leave (paid), not suspended.
2. Part of their job was to find lost/stolen Macbooks. If I were trying to find a lost/stolen laptop,I would look when a student (who might be the one who took it) is at school (8:00 AM to 4:00 PM) and when the student is at home (or wherever) using it.
3. Hopefully LM will not try to make these two guys the scapegoats since their bosses were the ones who approved the purchase and implementation of the SW.
@prrbill. the issues in the game do place the company and possibly the IT folks in the guilt box because there are reports of laptops that were never reported stolen having their camera lights come on, suggesting someone was snapping photos when there was no cause. or at least watching. so perhaps some IT guy who could also know which child reportedly having which computer and flipping on the girl's cameras in the hopes of catching one of them undressing etc.
and then the non disclosure of camera access being possible plus simply why the camera was used without first doing something like a GPS track, calling the parents or getting the police involved once that track showed the laptop to be at a certain location.
Funny... When this story first broke, and the lawsuit became known, I don't recall it being an "IT Guy" that confronted the kid with a photo of him "engaged in improper behavior in his home." In fact, I'm fairly certain it was Assistant Principal Lindy Mastko. I suppose the IT people could have just done these things on their own and then gave the image to the Principal, but I have my doubts. I'm sure we'll be hearing their story soon enough. My prediction, finger pointing back and forth between the school administrators and these two IT monkeys.
The IT guys are getting thrown under the bus. School admins disciplined a kid? And what, they're going to sell a story where IT people were peeking where they weren't supposed to and when they saw some bad behavior on cam, went and TOLD the administrators that they had been peeking? Nuh uh.
Also...convince me the kid had reported his macbook stolen when it was still in his possession. No one has ever explained why this kid's security software was ever remotely accessed to begin with.
I am still keeping dark tape over my cam for now
Well, IT shouldn't be going down alone. Even if they did the perviest things, it wouldn't excuse the school board from implementing it in the first place.
@JoshUng implementing is one thing. Using it when the laptop had not been stolen is another thing and completely wrong.
Suspended? LOL And the five year old kid in a Washington public school got expelled for making a gun with his hand. Boy, seems rather strange how these public school incidents all come unequally balanced, no?
I think this type of monitoring is going on all the time. PBS's Frontline just did a show called "Digital Nation" if you go 33:39 into the middle of the program you can see the assistant principal of New Your public school IS 339 remotely monitoring students on camera like its no big deal. They don't even make a big deal about it on the program. Here's the link;
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/
It should be noted that anyone with passing knowledge of Mac OS X and Admin access to the machines could still access the web cam. With a little more skill this is true of all OSs and machines. If I can place and run apps on a machine I can do anything I want.
"Suspended" is not really the word I wanted to hear. "Fired" has a much more just ring to it.
@misterfuzz - And how do you know the IT folks weren't just doing as directed by the administration? Should we just fire them all until we actually find out what happens?
@MRCUR So what you're saying is that the people who enabled this administration to spy on children at home are somehow not in the wrong? I find it especially preposterous that such 'direction' would be carried out without question at a school of all places.
Unnamed? Guys, read the article. "The two people authorized to activate the software - Michael Perbix, a network technician, and Carol Cafiero, information systems coordinator - were put on paid leave last week while lawyers and technicians examine how the remote system was used, The Inquirer learned yesterday."
@DrewNL My mistake, I missed that in the source. Updated the post.
Disabled in an "update". Well I'm sure everyone will update their school's computers, right? Sure they will.
What happens when a laptop actually gets stolen now? A once useful (If used correctly) tool is rendered useless.
The student in question had taken a replacement MacBook home without getting the $55 insurance policy, which is really ironic considering his dad is an insurance broker. LM's policy is that any computer which leaves District property MUST have the insurance to cover any mishaps. The question comes up that if the IT department issued the student the replacement computer and knew the kid didn't have the insurance policy in place, why did they have to turn on the iSight? They knew he signed it out. Contact the parents; don't call the kid into the Assistant Principal's office.