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Webcam-spying school district settles out of court, FBI declines to press charges

Joseph L. Flatley — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 07:53:00 EST

Looks like the Lower Merion School District will be paying off kids who got zinged by its laptop tracking program -- to the tune of some $610,000. As you might recall, there was quite a bit of hubbub earlier this year when students discovered that their school issued computers tended to activate their webcams and shoot the photos back to administrators. Apparently the FBI has decided not to bring any charges in the case after all, and the various families of the students settled with the school district out of court. And yes, the schools have discontinued the tracking program.

Webcam-spying school district settles out of court, FBI declines to press charges originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 07:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lower Merion, PA school district cleared of Federal spying charges, approves new privacy policies

Sean Hollister — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST

Though a now-infamous Pennsylvania school district admitted to taking thousands of pictures of schoolchildren without their consent, federal investigators have decided not to pursue criminal charges. That doesn't halt a class-action complaint against the district (which charges invasion of privacy and wiretapping) but a US attorney told reporters that FBI and police investigators hadn't found proof beyond a reasonable doubt that school employees had criminal intent to spy on students using their school-issued laptops.

On a related note, students returning to Lower Merion for a new school year can set their minds at ease, as the school board just approved a new set of laptop regulations that (among other things) ban remote monitoring of microphones and webcams. Feel free to pick through for technical loopholes at our more coverage link, and let's hope this little LMSD soap opera is finally at an end.

Lower Merion, PA school district cleared of Federal spying charges, approves new privacy policies originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lower Merion, PA school district denouement nears: report denies spying charges

Laura June — Thu, 06 May 2010 09:08:00 EST

The long, intense saga over in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania -- in which lawsuits were filed alleging that the school district used students' laptops to spy on them -- may be nearing its end. The class action suit was filed back in February claiming that the school district had made use of "unauthorized, inappropriate and indiscriminate remote activation" of webcams in laptops issued to students," with the school countering that it had some security features that allowed the laptops to be tracked in case of loss or theft, but that those features hadn't been used to track students in any way. The case got more complicated of course, with webcam usage allegations, as well as evidence that plenty of photos had been captured by the spy-crazy school district. Well, now an attorney hired by the school district says a report's been released that says there is no evidence of spying on the part of the school district, after all. It's all pretty boring after all the hubbub, and it turns out to be likely that the school was just tracking the laptop (which wasn't actually a school-issued laptop, but a loaner given to a student while his actual unit was repaired) in order to get it back over outstanding insurance fees. Nothing too exciting here, but if you're interested in the rest of the story, hit up those source links.

Lower Merion, PA school district denouement nears: report denies spying charges originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 09:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thousands of images apparently captured by spying school district, more details revealed

Tim Stevens — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:42:00 EST

Legal proceedings are getting underway in the case of ~~Philadelphia's~~ Pennsylvania's Lower Merion School District -- you know, the one accused of remotely turning on webcams on its student's laptops inappropriately? We knew that district IT folks enabled the webcams 42 times in total, capturing pictures every 15 seconds, but now we're learning that over 400 images were retrieved of a single sophomore and that there are thousands more of other students. There is also seeming proof of use of the webcams even when laptops were not reported stolen, like when a student failed to pay the school's hardware insurance premiums. The district is apparently not standing behind its two IT employees who had the necessary permissions to enable this remote viewing, technology coordinator Carol Cafiero and technician Michael Perbix, and from what little we can tell now it's not looking particularly good for them. In a deposition Cafiero refused to answer any questions, citing her Fifth Amendment rights, but an alleged e-mail exchange between the two saw Perbix calling the pictures "a little LMSD soap opera," to which Cafiero replied "I know, I love it!" That doesn't sound entirely appropriate...

Update: We've received a few comments and e-mails about calling this "Philadelphia's Lower Merion School District" when, in actuality, the school is outside of the city limits, and county limits too, so we've corrected that above. Apparently nobody wants to be associated with these guys.

Thousands of images apparently captured by spying school district, more details revealed originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spying school district update: remote webcam functionality disabled, two IT monkeys suspended

Tim Stevens — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:17:00 EST

We're still waiting for all the legal fallout from the Pennsylvania's Lower Merion School District webcam spying case, but more news is slowly trickling out about the whole thing, including the technology that the school used: a remote administration suite called LANrev. An update to the software, releasing this week, will disable the option for admins (or pervy IT workers) to remotely switch on a computer's webcam, hopefully preventing a replay of this situation. Beyond that, two ~~unnamed~~ (possibly pervy) IT workers have been suspended for their involvement in this whole situation. Are they the ones who went too far, or was it their managers who ordered them to do it and are now throwing their dutiful peons to the fire? We may never know the truth, but at least we can now frolic naked in front of our MacBooks without fearing that dreaded green light.

Spying school district update: remote webcam functionality disabled, two IT monkeys suspended originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PA school district issued order to refrain from webcam spying (video)

Joseph L. Flatley — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:27:00 EST

Why a school district would ever think it was acceptable to secretly snap pictures of its students -- in their own homes, no less -- is totally beyond us, but with any luck the Lower Merion School District webcam caper will soon have its day court. Yesterday, an attorney for plaintiff Blake Robbins' confirmed that an agreement was reportedly finalized to stop the school from spying on its students while preserving evidence for the lawsuit. "What gets me in this situation is that I can't imagine there's a parent anywhere who would support the school district's actions here," said ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director (and all around good guy) Vic Walczak. "[W]hat the school allegedly has done here is the equivalent of the principal breaking into the house, hiding in the child's closet, and then watching him or her from there." Yuck! For more info on the technical aspects of this case, peep the video after the break.

Update: Seems that someone dug up some of the school's policies surrounding the webcam surveillance, and suffice it to say, the bullet points listed here are downright crazy. How crazy? How's about "possession of a monitored MacBook was required for classes, and possession of an unmonitored personal computer was forbidden and would be confiscated." Oh, and "disabling the camera was impossible."

Continue reading PA school district issued order to refrain from webcam spying (video)

PA school district issued order to refrain from webcam spying (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spying school district update: turned on webcams 42 times, FBI isn't sure that's legal

Tim Stevens — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:24:00 EST

Remember the Pennsylvania school district that was accused of remotely flipping on the webcams of students' laptops? As if the civil suit filed on behalf of those students wasn't going to be enough trouble for the Lower Merion representatives, now it seems the FBI wants to know just what's going on, launching an investigation into the practice. For its part the district said that it remotely activated the cams 42 times, and that it only did so with the bestest of intentions: when trying to locate a missing laptop. It would also like to point out that only two employees had the power to flip the switch, and that they only captured images -- never sound. Because, you know, surreptitiously watching your kids is so much less menacing when there's no audio involved.

Spying school district update: turned on webcams 42 times, FBI isn't sure that's legal originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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School allegedly uses students' laptop webcams for espionage, lawsuit ensues

Ross Miller — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:49:00 EST

Hold onto your butts, kids, we've got a doozy of a story. Let's take this one slow: a class-action lawsuit has been filed in Pennsylvania accusing the Lower Merion school district of "unauthorized, inappropriate and indiscriminate remote activation" of webcams in laptops issued to students, without prior knowledge or consent. The tale begins when Assistant Principal Lindy Mastko of Harriton High School informed a student that he was "engaged in improper behavior in his home"; the suit alleges that when pressed for details, Mastko told both the boy and his father that the school district could remotely activate the webcam -- a capability that is apparently being used.

The school district has yet to respond to the accusations, so at this point we've only got the plaintiff's side of the story -- for all we know this kid took a picture of himself and somehow accidentally uploaded it on the school network. Then again, some purported Lower Merion students just emailed Gizmodo and claimed that their MacBooks' green webcam lights went on at random times, but they were told by IT support that it was just a technical glitch. Holy alleged invasion of privacy, Batman, this could get mighty interesting. PDF of the complaint available below.

Update: The Lower Merion School District superintendent Christopher McGinley has issued an official response on its website, acknowledging "a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops." Going further, he says the district " has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever" but that the matter is "under review."

[Thanks, Yossi]

School allegedly uses students' laptop webcams for espionage, lawsuit ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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