A Pennsylvania school district is in trouble because a laptop on loan to a student had its webcam activated after school hours. The school claims it uses the camera technology to track missing computers, but a student was called on the carpet for what the webcam recorded during its activation, family is pursuing an invasion of privacy legal action against the school.
This is a road not yet travelled, so it will be interesting to find out what happens. On one hand, the laptop was school property and on loan; on the other hand, how many pieces of school-issued equipment can possibly be used to tattle on its owner? On another hand (consider me an octopus), students today can rework a piece of computer equipment in a matter of minutes, so a school district should be able to track anything that could be damaged outside its borders. Would any parent want a student well versed in techno misbehavior, rigging a machine to transmit porn or other illegal materials to its next owner?
Also, I don’t understand why students can’t use their own computers at home, unless all the hype I’m hearing about everybody owning computers is a lie.
I feel a bit nervous about having a camera attached to any device that can access worldwide networks. It may seem paranoid, but I would never have a computer in any area in which I might even be seen by a web camera adjusting my shirt sleeve. With the dangers of “sexting” and other illicit behaviors going on in this world, I think schools should have some controls on hand to protect the students and their taxpaying parents, even if it does include a laptop device that tracks the whereabouts of the machine. Activating a camera, however, might not have been a wise idea. Instead, there should have been a GPS based locator.
On the other hand, if I were a parent unable to be sure of what my child was up to, having that webcam access could save a life.
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