School IT allegedly took "thousands" of pics in webcam case

[Niels Bohr 72]

By Jacqui Cheng | Last updated about 3 hours ago

Remember the lawsuit filed by the family of 15-year-old Blake Robbins against the school district that spied on him at home via webcam? The latest news comes from a motion filed by the Robbins family claiming that the school took more than 400 photos of Blake in his room—some while sleeping and others while he was "partially undressed."

According to the motion filed Thursday, the Robbins family said that it was only aware of a handful of images being captured at the time the lawsuit was filed back in February. Now, thanks to the court order asking the district to preserve evidence on all school-issued computers, the family has discovered more than 400 photos of Blake alone, not to mention the "thousands" more taken of other students in their homes. In addition to these photos of students doing private things in their rooms, the school district also allegedly took screenshots of IM conversations they were having with friends.

Even worse, the IT staff responsible for implementing and monitoring the student laptops seemingly viewed the whole thing as entertainment. The motion cites e-mails sent between staffers—one says the pictures were "like a little [Lower Merion School District] soap opera. Carol Cafiero, one of the administrators responsible for the program responded "I know. I love it!" Cafiero is one of two staffers who have been placed on administrative leave.

The school district has always argued that it only turned on the webcams in the event that a laptop appeared to be lost or stolen, but the Robbins argue that there were numerous cases in which the school spied on students despite knowing exactly who had the laptops—sometimes, students absentmindedly forgot to return their computers on time or failed to pay the $55 insurance fee in a timely manner. The latter was the case for Blake; the school says it initially spied on him because he failed to pay the fee, though there appears to be no explanation as to why the IT staff watched him for at least two full weeks before he ended up getting disciplined for "improper behavior" at home.

Understandably, the court has issued an order barring any of the 400+ photographs or screenshots from being made available to anyone but the lawyers.

Even if you think the school district is within its rights to install monitoring software on school laptops, the IT staff appear to have gotten the whole district into a hairy situation by turning laptop security into their own real-life high school "soap opera."

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Obama 2012 1,714]

They might as well rule in favor of the school now and get it over with.

We all know everyone is going to have mandatory cameras watching their homes soon anyway...

[Dr. Obvious 49]

I was wondering why the stores were sold out of tin foil...

[Fandango 1,440]

I am speechless!

[Kevin and 10]

They might as well rule in favor of the school now and get it over with.

We all know everyone is going to have mandatory cameras watching their homes soon anyway...

Its happening in the UK

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/115736

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Its happening in the UK

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/115736

For Fucks Sake, is that real?

[luckytxn 2,265]

Its happening in the UK

http://www.express.c...sts/view/115736

Wow. I have been expecting this to start happening at some time but never thought a so called democratic government would ever have the balls to actually put monitors INSIDE the homes of its citizens.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Please remove your tinfoil hats RWN's.......

I definitely think this school administrators responsible for this program should be fired, and the school assessed punitive damages. But really, what kind of damages can this kid claim? The pictures were not diseminated. The program was illconceived and even carried out haplessly. If they were doing it for the sake of security, they simply needed a GPS unit installed on it so that they could track it at all times. Furthermore, they could have installed a keylogger or a security program that has the capacity to capture a screenshot of what is on the laptop at that moment. No need to actually activate the webcam and see what he is doing. There is absolutely no justification for that.

[Fandango 1,440]

Please remove your tinfoil hats RWN's.......

I definitely think this school administrators responsible for this program should be fired, and the school assessed punitive damages. But really, what kind of damages can this kid claim? The pictures were not diseminated. The program was illconceived and even carried out haplessly. If they were doing it for the sake of security, they simply needed a GPS unit installed on it so that they could track it at all times. Furthermore, they could have installed a keylogger or a security program that has the capacity to capture a screenshot of what is on the laptop at that moment. No need to actually activate the webcam and see what he is doing. There is absolutely no justification for that.

They have screencaps of half naked kids (iirc from the last article). Someone needs jail time afaic.

And really 'rwn, tinfoil' comments really do add nothing to the conversation and it's just snide baiting at this point.

[The_Dude 1,142]

They have screencaps of half naked kids (iirc from the last article). Someone needs jail time afaic.

And really 'rwn, tinfoil' comments really do add nothing to the conversation and it's just snide baiting at this point.

Jailtime is going to be difficult to sell. I think they should be severely punished, but unless you can prove that this was done maliciously with the subverssive subplot and not just a royal c0ckup, it will most likely remain in civil courts. I point out RWN moments as I see them. But then again, every time I see paul posting he has one of those moments

[Fandango 1,440]

Jailtime is going to be difficult to sell. I think they should be severely punished, but unless you can prove that this was done maliciously with the subverssive subplot and not just a royal c0ckup, it will most likely remain in civil courts. I point out RWN moments as I see them. But then again, every time I see paul posting he has one of those moments

Not to defend Paul because I think he can do that himself just fine, it just grates on me when something's dismissed as 'rwn'. It's easy to dismiss something away as crazy or whatever just because you may not agree with it/want to diminish its validity/etc. Obviously his comment is at least coming true in the UK, so it's not really that far fetched, is it?

Back on topic though; I'd like to see there be jail time. You're right, it's not going to be an easy sell at all, but at the end of the day, IF there's a history of the kids on their cams and them being half naked or what have you, I think the fact that there would be more than one instance of that before this 'program' was disbanded, that would be sufficient proof. But what I'd like to see, and what I do see, are two completely different things at times. Heh

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Jailtime is going to be difficult to sell. I think they should be severely punished, but unless you can prove that this was done maliciously with the subverssive subplot and not just a royal c0ckup, it will most likely remain in civil courts. I point out RWN moments as I see them. But then again, every time I see paul posting he has one of those moments

Yes, because making the point that intrusion is increasing on a regular basis makes me RWN.

As was pointed out in that UK article in this thread as well, there are many instances of intrusion that keep gaining ground if you start it off in the right places.

The same goes with the microchip implants. - You know they're actually paying people in South America to try out the 'implants' to make their lives easier. Every aspect of your life controlled from a little implant. You can buy groceries, unlock your doors, etc.. and all of this in the name of 'technology.' - Sometimes though, technology does go too far, especially when it becomes ultimately relied upon. Then even worse if the technology and control falls into the wrong hands. --- http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/136744 --- That article there from a few years ago, is actually a pretty good one on how easy it is to process new things into a society that might otherwise fight against it.

It's not about 'tin foil' hats and conspiracies, it's about the reality of a situation. Everything has original 'good inteions' but we all know where the path paved with said intentions leads to.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Actually,

Knowledge is power. It's not whether or not technology falls in the wrong hands.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I came across that link along time ago. Its not true, at least not how the Daily Mail was reporting it.