Did a Pennsylvania school district use iSight to iSpy?

What the hell are you talking about? Of course there is an expectation of privacy NOT TO SPY ON STUDENTS IN THEIR OWN HOME. The agreement the students and parents signed to receive a school laptop did not say ANYWHERE that they had this capability or would use it for any purpose, be it recovering stolen laptops or voyeurism. When you receive a company laptop, you are loaded up with warnings telling you what not to do and how they may track you in order to prevent inappropriate behavior. That wasn't done here, and there inlies the problem.

If you don't view that as against the law, then you don't understand the very principals upon which this country was founded.

"What if your daughter had one of these laptops in her room that she used to type papers at night and in the morning? Just after a shower? While changing? How infuriated would you be at the thought of a school administrator thinking nothing of their ability to watch them?"

You're missing the point. That wouldn't be happening because the district wouldn't have activated tracking software while in her possession. Just because they can doesn't mean they will or that it's even likely they would. Hell, they could put cameras in the bathroom, but you and I both know they won't because it just doesn't make sense that they would and only someone unduly paranoid would fear it. I'm not about to tell my daughter not to go to the bathroom while at school. What's any different about this other than the spying would be novel and technological? It still doesn't make it likely.

Now, that being said, nobody has an expectation of privacy in a laptop they do not own. Ask anybody who has a laptop or computer at work and ask if they have any expectation of privacy in it. No. Even when it's at home.

The student's lawyer was on Good Day Philadelphia yesterday morning. He explicitly stated that the laptop WAS NOT reported lost or stolen.

Also, the school district issues laptops to all students. These are allowed to be taken home, and they routinely are. It is very similar to a school-loaned graphing calculator.

The school district is so far in the wrong here that it is silly. What if your daughter had one of these laptops in her room that she used to type papers at night and in the morning? Just after a shower? While changing? How infuriated would you be at the thought of a school administrator thinking nothing of their ability to watch them?

This is a gross invasion of privacy with no prior warning given.

The kid had reported the laptop stolen. When the school tried to recover the laptop via imbedded security software (due to the student himself having reported the laptop stolen) they found....the student.

The students aren't apprised of the security software's existence because it doesn't implicate them. It's not used when they're in possession of the laptop. It's a security feature for precisely when the laptop has left the student's possession due to it being lost or stolen.

The fact that this kid was captured in front of the laptop doesn't mean his privacy expectations were violated, it means he's a thief. And his parents, rather than face up to the fact that their son may not be the angel they think he is, overlooked the essential incongruity of the district randomly monitoring students and filed a lawsuit. And it's not the first time. They filed a lawsuit last year against the district during a redistricting controversy.

I'm sure the district needs b ... More dent.

The students aren't apprised of the security software's existence because it doesn't implicate them. It's not used when they're in possession of the laptop. It's a security feature for precisely when the laptop has left the student's possession due to it being lost or stolen.

The fact that this kid was captured in front of the laptop doesn't mean his privacy expectations were violated, it means he's a thief. And his parents, rather than face up to the fact that their son may not be the angel they think he is, overlooked the essential incongruity of the district randomly monitoring students and filed a lawsuit. And it's not the first time. They filed a lawsuit last year against the district during a redistricting controversy.

I'm sure the district needs better policies in place so everybody knows how and when the software can be used, but that doesn't negate the fact that the school isn't in the business of tracking students. It's in the business of tracking hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of expensive laptops. And when they're stolen and otherwise presumed to be not in possession by students, the district isn't just shrugging its shoulders. If it did, parents like these would be suing the district for wasting their tax dollars.

it is interesting.
I would go paranoid if the green light started flashing and i wasnt on ichat or skype

I can't wait for the rest of the story. Kids lie, all of them. How do we know the student didn't take the picture of himself and post it/email it? Get busted and blame it on the school. It is easy to blame the school.

Contrary to some reports, it seems that the MacBook in question was taken home without the mandatory insurance being paid. It's also been called into question if it was the student's or a loaner. To clarify, LM had announced to students (but not to parents AND not in any written communication home as far as I've been able to find out) that they had the right to investigate in any manner the whereabouts of any lost, missing or stolen computer. As the property of the Lower Merion School District, the IT staff did have the responsibility of determining where a possible missing MacBook was.

The major mistake seems to be that the assistant principal called a minor into her office and put forth the accussations that not only was the MacBook illegally taken home but while investigating that situation, it appeared that the student had drugs in his possession. IF she had called the parents in, explained the policy of why the iSight had been turned on for that particular MacBook and what was observed when the images were viewed, then we probably wouldn't have this blog at all.

so this story broke like 7 days ago, and today the courts told them not to delete any logs.

Nobody else thinks that all logs were destroyed 6 1/2 days ago and all logging was switched off?

This is why my children will never be allowed to take a computer from their school. I will work extra freelance work if they need something other than what has already been provided.

This laptop was NOT reported stolen. There was no reason for school administrators to be peeping in on students lives other than sheer morbid and perverted curiosity. This potentially means that school administrators can just flick a switch and start monitoring any student using their laptop, regardless of if it's for theft recovery or any legitimate reason.

The school district claims it has found 42 missing or stolen laptops using this program. That is a good, legitimate use of this technology. But I think this goes deeper than some rogue assistant principal. In order to have the balls to reprimand a student with a screen capture of something he did in his own home, this must have been seen as fine by the people above him. And that's the scary part. You now have a few dozen people who can spy on any student in their home with no warning or consent. Also, there are reports that even teachers have the ability to spy on their students. And any of these people can take screen captures or video.

Also, Lower Merion School District is one of the most affluent in the state, if not the country. Property taxes are enormous around here, that's why they can afford to give out MacBooks to thousands of students. Pay a lot, get a lot.

And yes, the lawyers are out in full force for this one. As they should be. This is a gross and negligent abuse of power with no prior warning given.