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Lawsuit: School gave kids laptops to spy on them at home
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Students in a Philadelphia-area school district have launched a lawsuit accusing their schools of spying on them at home through webcams installed in laptop computers the district gave them.
The parents of Blake Robbins, a student at Harriton High School in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, have launched a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 1,800 high school students who were issued laptops by the Lower Merion School District.
Robbins' lawsuit (PDF) alleges that students and parents weren't told that school administrators had the ability to activate the laptop webcams remotely, even when the student is at home or away from the computer.
The lawsuit seeks "damages for invasion of privacy, theft of private information, and unlawful interception and access to electronic information," reports Courthouse News.
Robbins' family only found out that school officials were allegedly spying on students when an assistant principal confronted Robbins about "improper behaviour in his home,” and showed him a picture taken from Robbins' school-issued laptop, reports the Toronto Star.
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"But when schools take that personal information ... they send a much more powerful message: your privacy is worthless and you shouldn't try to protect it."
According to the Toronto Star, the Lower Merion School District is among the wealthiest in Pennsylvania, and one of only two districts in the state to earn "Moody’s highest bond rating," perhaps explaining how it can afford a laptop for every student.
The district's teachers "are among the highest paid in Pennsylvania and its students’ college-entrance scores are among the highest in the country," the Star reports..."
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