For years students have asked me whether or not people can see through the webcam without them knowing.  I have explained that YES the technology exists for a hacker to remotely activate the webcam without the user’s knowledge but at some point they would need access to the computer in order to install such a device.  Never in a million years, did I think a school issued laptop was using such technology!

In Lower Merion School District of Ardmore, Pa. that is exactly what they did.  According to the school, the remote activation was to be used to locate lost or stolen school issued laptops.  However, last November, a laptop’s webcam was activated in order to spy on one Pennsylvania family.

The Robbins family first found out about the spying when their son Blake was accused by an administrator at Harriton High School of “improper behavior in his home.”  The school showed him images of being caught in the act that were taken using the remotely activated webcam.

The Robbins family has filed a lawsuit against the school district claiming that at no time were they informed of the school’s ability to activate the webcam remotely.  According to the lawsuit, the Robbins state that there was no mention of the functionality in any of the documentation they received or on the district’s website.

The suit accuses the school district of violating the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), and other federal and state statues, including the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act.

If the school’s intention was to locate lost and stolen machines, a simple GPS tracking device would do the trick, why activate the webcam?

Several State and Federal funded initiatives are giving schools an opportunity to place laptops in the hands of their students. This can be a great thing!  When technology is rolled-out in an educational environment, young people are exposed to multi-modal learning that enhances the entire learning process.  But without guidelines for both schools and students, we end up here… where there is no law and order… only the wild west on the information highway!

In 2008, an Amendment to the Child Online Protection Act (CIPA) was added to include the need for Internet Education in school that receive federal dollars for data and voice communication.  However, the amendment did not specify how schools needed to implement the policy.

If we are going to continue to enhance education through technology there needs to be education about ethical use!  And not just for the students (as that is apparent now with the Pennsylvania case).