[OnlyInPhiladelphia.com]— Has a new filed class action lawsuit shed light on a secret surveillance program most recently used on 2,300 student laptops provided by a Main Line high school?

The FBI is now involved in an ongoing electronic privacy case at Lower Merion High school which all started when student Blake Robbins, 15, was called to the Assistant principals office, accused of “improper behavior in his home”, with print out images from his webcam handed to him as evidence.

According to Philly.com, Mr. Robbins told the media that the image was of him eating Mike & Ike candies, which the school mistook for illegal pills.

The complaint was filed by Robbins and his parents who alleges that the school district has been spying on the student’s and families activities by “indiscriminant use of and ability to remotely activate the webcams incorporated into each laptop issued to students,” all without the knowledge or consent of any of the students or parents involved in the lawsuit.

“As the laptops at issue were routinely used by students and family members while at home, it is believed and therefore averred that many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, in various stages of dress or undress,” the filing alleged.

Quite frankly, anyone with common-sense probably for the record is better off not facing their Apple laptop with built-in camera towards themselves while they are undressing like the plaintiff is insinuating, operational or not.

Personally, I do not carry my laptop with me everywhere I go, but there comes a time when I do bring it into the bedroom, but chances are not directly facing me if I had decided to go and change.

These in real-world conditions account for minuscule amount of time consumption in webcam footage. As for other embarrassing positions, i.e., getting caught picking your nose or with droopy eyelids, that’s all your own business, and we shouldn’t have to worry about being under the watch of the school district at home.

But just how did the District work with this kind of software and technology behind-the-scenes, and to what extent?

Lower Merion School district responded briefly by saying,

The District is dedicated to protecting and promoting student privacy. The laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. This feature has been deactivated effective today.

They bullet a self-imposed question that says ‘Why was the remote tracking-security feature installed?’

Laptops are a frequent target for theft in schools and off school property. The security feature was installed to help locate a laptop in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student.

And most importantly, How does it work or how it’s alleged to work:

Upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature was activated by the District’s security and technology departments. The tracking-security feature was limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator’s screen. This feature has only been used for the limited purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever.

The Apple webcam as OnlyInPhiladelphia informed you on earlier this week was triggered 42 times this school year, in an attempt to track lost or missing computers, LMSD says.

According to the complaint, nowhere in any of the literature that came with the laptop say anything about the District being able to remotely activate the webcam at any time.

On November 11, 2009, Plaintiffs were for the first time informed of the above-mentioned capability and practice by the School District when Lindy Matsko, an Assistant Principal at Harriton High School, informed minor Plaintiff that the School District was of the belief that minor Plaintiff was engaged in improper behavior in his home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in minor Plaintiff’s personal laptop issued by the School District.

The school district admittedly “regrets” the “inconvenience” the situation has caused their students and families, and will continue to update the community as more information arises.

The Robbins family alledges that the incident runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment including the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, §1983 of the Civil Rights Act, the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act.

This, apparently, is not the first time the District has been approached, as members of student council of Harriton High have spoken out who have become aware of the school’s capabilities.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported recently that network technician Mike Perbix spoke highly of the LANrev software system in a 2008 webcast:

Once the feature is activated and a computer goes online, he said, “that computer will start sending back, at regular intervals . . . screen shots [pictures of what is on the computer's screen] and if you have a built-in iSight [the Apple camera], it will start sending in camera shots.”

“The security system also shows the computer’s unique “address” and shows what Internet server it was logged into, which Perbix said can “help the police try to track down your stolen computer.”

“Yes, we have used it, and yes, it has gleaned some results for us . . . especially when you’re in a school environment and you’re worrying about laptops getting up and missing,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic feature,” Perbix said, chuckling at times as he talked about the theft-tracking feature in the software. “I can’t speak highly enough of it.”

When you have the capability of getting 20-or-so photos of individuals without letting them know, we clearly have an issue here. We will continue updating you on this case as the workweek begins. Being one of the first schools to allow it’s students to use school-issued laptops has already shown some negatives in it’s starter trials.

There is now a Facebook group you can join to discuss the Lower Merion issue.

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