Besides being a song from a show I was in once, this is a question we ask ourselves over and over again as the government or some other entity does some eyebrow-raising stunt. It seems a lot of such stunts have occurred in the recent decades, and this one isn’t going to make you feel better. The question here is, what should a school be allowed to do to keep tabs on their students or the school property they use, in this case laptop computers? A lawsuit has been brought against a school district for remotely activating webcams when the computer is off-site. This came to light when a school had the gall to discipline a student for something that happened at his home using webcam footage as evidence. Now I can fully understand monitoring computer use when the computers are at the school. After all, at school students should be engaged in schoolwork. But at home? It isn’t mentioned just what the student did at home, but even if it had something to do with the computer, should the school really be allowed to turn on the webcam? What if the student left his or her computer open in the bedroom while undressing for the night or to shower? I really hope this school goes down for this, but not with some big financial settlement as it would be the taxpayers of course who wind up paying. What a stupid decision, in my humble opinion of course. Here is the article:
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BoingBoing: School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home
School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home
Policing students at home? Big Brother, indeed. Only 26 years late.
Yes, I don’t agree with it either… I can understand the school being worried about something happening to an expensive laptop, but it doesn’t sound like this is what the surveillance was being used for. As a parent, I would not want my student borrowing the school’s laptop if I knew that it contained a webcam that would allow someone to record my kids or my home – not a secure feeling!
Great to hear from you, derek!!
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Hey Derek, nice to read from you!!! 😉 )
That is wrong in so many ways. I for one hopes the school gets hit hard with the lawsuit. It may stop other schools from trying the same thing.
I do try to post now and again. 😀
Yes, some heads should roll over this decision.
I was half expecting this story to be from Russia