See previous post on this story.
October 12, 2010
School district settles in webcam privacy case
by Edward Moyer
CNET
The Philadelphia school district that was sued for remotely and secretly taking pictures of students in their homes, using webcams on laptops issued to the students, has agreed to pay $610,000 to settle the lawsuits.
The Lower Merion School District's Board of School Directors said in a statement today that it will pay $175,000 to plaintiff Blake Robbins and $10,000 to plaintiff Jalil Hassan. An additional $425,000 will be paid out to cover the plaintiffs' legal fees.
"We recognize that in this case, a lengthy, costly trial would benefit no one," the statement said. "It would have been an unfair distraction for our students and staff, and it would have cost taxpayers additional dollars that are better devoted to education. We also wanted to be sensitive to the welfare of the student involved in the case, given the possible ramifications of what would have been a highly publicized trial."
Earlier this year, lawyers for high schooler Robbins and his family sued the district, saying the 15-year-old had been photographed without his knowledge. In a later motion, they said thousands of shots had been taken, including "pictures of Blake partially undressed and of Blake sleeping." They also said images of visited Web sites and of instant messaging exchanges had been recorded. Hassan also sued, and the incident sparked an investigation by local law enforcement agencies and the FBI.
The district admitted webcams had been activated but said the remote photo-taking function had been put in place as a way of tracking stolen laptops. A judge eventually ruled that there was no evidence that would justify criminal charges in the case.
In August, the district approved revised laptop policies that "strictly prohibit remote monitoring...of any kind, including activation of webcams, screenshots, audio, and video."
Showing posts with label spying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spying. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
District loaned laptops to students, then used spyware to take pictures of them.
See update on this story.
Feds: No crime spying on kids via webcams
Prosecutors: No "criminal intent"
By Dan Gillmor
Federal prosecutors are showing uncommon sympathy for some Pennsylvania school officials who spied on students via webcams in their school-owned laptop computers: They've decided not to prosecute.
The reason? "For the government to prosecute a criminal case, it must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person charged acted with criminal intent," the U.S. Attorney's office said in a statement. "We have not found evidence that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone involved had criminal intent."
Let's leave aside the fact that people are charged all the time for criminal offenses despite having no idea they're committing crimes. And since when did ignorance of the law confer immunity?
Let's focus instead on the fundamental creepiness in what happened at the Lower Merion School District in suburban Philadelphia...
Feds: No crime spying on kids via webcams
Prosecutors: No "criminal intent"
By Dan Gillmor
Federal prosecutors are showing uncommon sympathy for some Pennsylvania school officials who spied on students via webcams in their school-owned laptop computers: They've decided not to prosecute.
The reason? "For the government to prosecute a criminal case, it must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person charged acted with criminal intent," the U.S. Attorney's office said in a statement. "We have not found evidence that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone involved had criminal intent."
Let's leave aside the fact that people are charged all the time for criminal offenses despite having no idea they're committing crimes. And since when did ignorance of the law confer immunity?
Let's focus instead on the fundamental creepiness in what happened at the Lower Merion School District in suburban Philadelphia...
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Time to play "Did this judge take a bribe?": Why did judge in Cyrus release 11th member of Russian spy ring?
UPDATE: Perhaps the odd actions of the judge in Cyprus were just an attempt to avoid a political crisis. The suspect probably would have been part of a spy swap if he had not been released.
ORIGINAL POST:
"Suspects arrested on the island are almost always held in custody for fear they may attempt to flee through the internationally unrecognised Turkish-run enclave of northern Cyprus. Both Turkey and Syria are only short boat rides away."
Russian spy ring suspect jumps bail in Cyprus
The Russian espionage drama intensfied tonight as the alleged paymaster in the "deep cover" spy ring failed to answer bail in Cyprus.
An arrest warrant was issued for Christopher Metsos, the 11th suspected member of the operation, after he failed to report to a police station in Larnaka, the Guardian has learned.
Metsos, 55, was arrested in Cyprus on Tuesday but, to the surprise of Cypriot police, was released on bail. Ten other accused are in custody in the US, after the FBI broke up the alleged ring on Monday.
"An arrest warrant has been issued and if found he will be arrested immediately," an officer at the police station in Larnaka told the Guardian. "He has broken his pledge to be here."
Metsos was first stopped at 9am yesterday at Larnaca airport by officers acting on an Interpol "red notice", moments before he was about to board a plane to Budapest.
Appearing before a district court judge, Metsos was told he could walk free, pending an extradition hearing within 30 days, if he posted €20,000 (£16,000) bail.
Metsos, who is thought to have been travelling on a Canadian passport, is believed to have returned immediately to his hotel in Larnaca, which he had checked out of only hours before.
Suspects arrested on the island are almost always held in custody for fear they may attempt to flee through the internationally unrecognised Turkish-run enclave of northern Cyprus. Both Turkey and Syria are only short boat rides away...
ORIGINAL POST:
"Suspects arrested on the island are almost always held in custody for fear they may attempt to flee through the internationally unrecognised Turkish-run enclave of northern Cyprus. Both Turkey and Syria are only short boat rides away."
Russian spy ring suspect jumps bail in Cyprus
The Russian espionage drama intensfied tonight as the alleged paymaster in the "deep cover" spy ring failed to answer bail in Cyprus.
An arrest warrant was issued for Christopher Metsos, the 11th suspected member of the operation, after he failed to report to a police station in Larnaka, the Guardian has learned.
Metsos, 55, was arrested in Cyprus on Tuesday but, to the surprise of Cypriot police, was released on bail. Ten other accused are in custody in the US, after the FBI broke up the alleged ring on Monday.
"An arrest warrant has been issued and if found he will be arrested immediately," an officer at the police station in Larnaka told the Guardian. "He has broken his pledge to be here."
Metsos was first stopped at 9am yesterday at Larnaca airport by officers acting on an Interpol "red notice", moments before he was about to board a plane to Budapest.
Appearing before a district court judge, Metsos was told he could walk free, pending an extradition hearing within 30 days, if he posted €20,000 (£16,000) bail.
Metsos, who is thought to have been travelling on a Canadian passport, is believed to have returned immediately to his hotel in Larnaca, which he had checked out of only hours before.
Suspects arrested on the island are almost always held in custody for fear they may attempt to flee through the internationally unrecognised Turkish-run enclave of northern Cyprus. Both Turkey and Syria are only short boat rides away...
Thursday, February 18, 2010
School Allegedly Spied On Kids In Their Homes
Click HERE to see original complaint.
"I do trust that the school district knows its bounds."
--A Pennsylvania student who apparently hasn't read this blog or the many news articles, blogs and court cases about illegal behavior by the individuals in charge of our schools
Students'-eye view of Webcam spy case
by Larry Magid
CNET
Students at Herriton High School in Lower Merion School District near Philadelphia are given Apple MacBook laptops to use both at school and at home. Like all MacBooks, the ones issued to the students have a Webcam. And, in addition to the students' ability to use the Webcam to take pictures or video, the school district can also use it to take photographs of whomever is using the computer.
In a civil complaint (PDF) filed in federal court, a student at the school, Blake Robbins, said he received a notice from an assistant principal informing him that "the school district was of the belief that minor plaintiff was engaged in improper behavior in his home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the Webcam."
The district said in a statement that the "security feature was installed to help locate a laptop in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student." The district further explained that "upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature was activated by the district's security and technology departments. The tracking-security feature was limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen." The district claims it has "not used the tracking feature or Webcam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever."...
In the mean time, the Associated Press is reporting that the FBI is investigating the district and "will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws," according to an unnamed official who spoke to the AP.
In an interview with CBS Evening News, plaintiff Blake Robbins said he was unaware that the camera could be activated at his house. "I thought that there was no way that they could do that at my home," Robbins said, adding that the assistant principal "thought I was selling drugs, which is completely false." ...
School Allegedly Spied On Kids In Their Homes
Web cams in laptops provided a school district with compromising photos of minors in their homes, a lawsuit claims.
By Thomas Claburn
InformationWeek
February 18, 2010 03:35 PM
A Pennsylvania family last week filed a lawsuit against the Lower Merion School District for spying on their child at home using a Web cam in a school-issued laptop.
The lawsuit, brought by Michael E. Robbins and Holly S. Robbins on behalf of their minor son Blake Robbins, alleges that the school district invaded their privacy and stolen private information in violation of various computer fraud and privacy laws.
The complaint claims that Lindy Matsko, assistant principal of Harriton High School, informed the Robbins' son that the School District believed he "was engaged in improper behavior in his home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the Web cam embedded in [his] personal laptop issued by the School District."
The complaint further states that Michael Robbins subsequently verified that the School District had the ability to remotely capture images using the Web cam at any time, without the knowledge or consent of the user.
"As the laptops at issue were routinely used by students and family members while at home, it is believed and therefore averred that many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, various stages or dress or undress," the complaint says...
"I do trust that the school district knows its bounds."
--A Pennsylvania student who apparently hasn't read this blog or the many news articles, blogs and court cases about illegal behavior by the individuals in charge of our schools
Students'-eye view of Webcam spy case
by Larry Magid
CNET
Students at Herriton High School in Lower Merion School District near Philadelphia are given Apple MacBook laptops to use both at school and at home. Like all MacBooks, the ones issued to the students have a Webcam. And, in addition to the students' ability to use the Webcam to take pictures or video, the school district can also use it to take photographs of whomever is using the computer.
In a civil complaint (PDF) filed in federal court, a student at the school, Blake Robbins, said he received a notice from an assistant principal informing him that "the school district was of the belief that minor plaintiff was engaged in improper behavior in his home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the Webcam."
The district said in a statement that the "security feature was installed to help locate a laptop in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student." The district further explained that "upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature was activated by the district's security and technology departments. The tracking-security feature was limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen." The district claims it has "not used the tracking feature or Webcam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever."...
In the mean time, the Associated Press is reporting that the FBI is investigating the district and "will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws," according to an unnamed official who spoke to the AP.
In an interview with CBS Evening News, plaintiff Blake Robbins said he was unaware that the camera could be activated at his house. "I thought that there was no way that they could do that at my home," Robbins said, adding that the assistant principal "thought I was selling drugs, which is completely false." ...
School Allegedly Spied On Kids In Their Homes
Web cams in laptops provided a school district with compromising photos of minors in their homes, a lawsuit claims.
By Thomas Claburn
InformationWeek
February 18, 2010 03:35 PM
A Pennsylvania family last week filed a lawsuit against the Lower Merion School District for spying on their child at home using a Web cam in a school-issued laptop.
The lawsuit, brought by Michael E. Robbins and Holly S. Robbins on behalf of their minor son Blake Robbins, alleges that the school district invaded their privacy and stolen private information in violation of various computer fraud and privacy laws.
The complaint claims that Lindy Matsko, assistant principal of Harriton High School, informed the Robbins' son that the School District believed he "was engaged in improper behavior in his home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the Web cam embedded in [his] personal laptop issued by the School District."
The complaint further states that Michael Robbins subsequently verified that the School District had the ability to remotely capture images using the Web cam at any time, without the knowledge or consent of the user.
"As the laptops at issue were routinely used by students and family members while at home, it is believed and therefore averred that many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, various stages or dress or undress," the complaint says...
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