Spying on Students - Webcam Privacy

A live feed of what I'm doing. You caught me.

Over the weekend, a story launched regarding high-school teachers accessing the built-in camera of students laptops. This was a big deal to me for two reasons: A) the morality/legality of spying on students and B) I grew up in the school district with which this situation has developed: Lower Merion. Had I attended public high school I would have gone to Lower Merion High School. Instead I attended the lovely Saint Joseph's Preparatory School.

So aside from my personal connection to the school district, this is a HUGE case that will set the tone for technology/privacy in schools for quite a while (until this technology is somehow enhanced even further, setting entirely new rules.)

Clearly, the school district messed up. They had good intentions - if a laptop was lost or stolen, they would be able to identify the user (supposedly) and then give the picture to police. While it sounds good, the school district should have informed the students and parents.

But THEN the issue is that they used it on a current student who they "suspected" was doing "inappropriate" things with a school-issued laptop. Does anyone wonder how they got this "suspicion" anyway? What exactly gave it away? Did they spy on him before hand? Apparently they "caught" him doing whatever it was (one can only imagine - but what do you expect from a teenager when there's so much smut easily available on the internet - and the SCHOOL PROVIDED A GATEWAY TO IT BY PROVIDING THE COMPUTER.)

I think LMSD should be concerned over how their laptops are being used - but could do so more effectively. Because they are school-issued, I wouldn't find it a problem for LMSD to have access to the computer remotely to access files/web history etc, but not the webcam. That's the most ridiculous part. It's like child pornography. I'm sure there is some creepy teacher who would love to see what one of their students is doing at all points in time - and that's NOT okay. That's when it crosses the border from ensuring the integrity of your machines to stalking. Catching this boy doing whatever "inappropriate" is child pornography, and the school district should be sued for that as well.

I would almost expect all school-issued (or computers issued by employers) would haves some sort of monitoring system. They need to make sure that their machines are being used for appropriate, related items. I would think it would be in some sort of contract between the supplier and the user. That just seems to make the most logical sense to me. The webcam doesn't make sense to me though. People use their computer all the time - they may have ridiculous outfits on or nothing on at all - and that's up to them in the privacy of their own home. Don't spy on how I look, spy on what I'm looking at - but tell me that you'll be doing it.

My other concern is that Lower Merion is pretty rich. Like, really rich. I bet almost 80% of the student base has access to a computer at home, and I would also go to say that over 50% have their own computer. Why do they need one from school? I haven't been keeping up with technological advancements in secondary education, but is it truly necessary for every student to have a school issued laptop? Can't the school district have laptops that they keep at school? Or get a computer on a need basis (although in this economy, who will say no to a tax-paid computer?)

In doing the math, Lower Merion School District has roughly 2,500 students in its two high schools. By issuing them a $999 MacBook (assuming it's the basic model) we are looking at a $2.49 million price tag. I'm sure that Apple has some sort of school distribution service that makes the machines cheaper, but I'm sure it was still a hefty price. THOSE ARE MY TAX DOLLARS AT WORK. AND THEY PROBABLY GET NEW COMPUTERS EVERY 3 YEARS. While I am pro-Apple products, is that what students need? Or could they "survive" off of the cheaper Dell/HP/Compaq etc ? They probably don't need the built-in camera anyway (which would have prevented this whole situation.)

As I said, this case will be a big deal. I think it could change the landscape of how computers are used in the classroom (and by employers.) It will be interesting to see how things play out, but I can't believe how this was issue even came to the forefront - LMSD should have had a moral brain in their head and thought about how this technology could be used for "safety", there's also A LOT of potential for negative use. I hope it was worth it