The Teacher Is Watching

A class action suit has been filed against a Pennsylvania school district for distributing laptop computers to its students and then remote accessing their webcams to spy on their home lives.

According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.

Students had suspected something was going on and some had taken to covering their webcams with paper or tape. School administrators say the program was originally intended to track the computers if they were stolen.