Matthew Heller discusses the DeSoto cellphone case discussed previously on this blog and seems to be as derisive of the court’s opinion as I was. His commentary begins: A Mississippi judge has chilled the privacy rights of students by ruling that school officials were justified in viewing photos on a student’s cell phone after he…
Category: Youth & Schools
New teacher guide to promote Freedom of Information and protection of Privacy is headed for Ontario classrooms
Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, released a new grade 10 guide for Civics teachers, What Students Need to Know about Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy. “Lessons in the guide should clearly demonstrate to students how material obtained through freedom of information requests can have a dramatic impact on their own lives,”…
Court gives school personnel a free pass for searching student’s cell phone
Venkat Balasubramani discusses a recent decision in a case previously mentioned on this blog: J.W. v. Desoto County School Dist., et al., 09-cv-00155-MPM-DAS (N.D. Miss.; Nov. 1, 2010) The Virginia Attorney General set off a small firestorm (e.g., “Should Teachers Be Searching Cell Phones?“) when he issued an opinion to the effect that principals and teachers…
FBI issues warning on video Barbie doll
Back in November, I had posted a news item about a Barbie doll that comes with a built-in video camera. The Associated Press now reports that the FBI has issued an alert over the toy: Mattel’s Barbie Video Girl has a video camera lens built into its necklace that can record up to 30 minutes…