Parents of a student in Pennsylvania claim their school district exercised direct control over embedded webcams in a school-issued laptop to spy on their son.
Ever wonder if that pinhole camera gazing ominously at you from the top of your laptop display might be seeing more than you intended? If you’re a student at Lower Merion School District, it might be giving school officials an eyeful.
A new class-action lawsuit from the parents of Blake Robbins, a student at Merriton High School, alleges that school officials were able to monitor their son using the embedded webcam in a school-issued laptop.
According to the formal complaint, the school’s assistant principal met with Blake’s parents back in November to fill them in on their son’s “improper behavior” at home. When they asked how the school could possibly have any idea about what their son was up to at home, Matsko confirmed that the school has the ability to turn webcams on school-issues laptops on and off, and view what’s on the other end.
Outraged, the parents are now chasing the school district for interception of electronic communications under the ECPA, theft of intellectual property under the CFAA, violations of the Stored Communications Act, violations of the Civil Rights Act, invasions of privacy, and violations of the Pennsylvania wiretapping and electronic surveillance act.
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RSSSounds like the parents have a good reason to be upset.