New revelations in The Philadelphia Inquirer hint that there may have been an innocent explanation for why the Lower Merion School District reportedly activated a webcam while the laptop was in the student’s home. On the same day that a court issued a temporary restraining order that bars the district from reactivating the remote security…
Category: Youth & Schools
ContactPoint: £224m national children’s database ‘is not stable’, officials admit
Andrew Hough and Martin Beckford report: Contactpoint, the £224 million computer system designed to protect young people, is a “frustrating” database and not “user friendly” for local authorities, internal documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show. Officials at one council involved in the system’s development expressed concerns about its operations and accuracy in…
Webcamgate: Lawyers seek restraining order against district
A lawsuit alleging that the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania remotely activated security software on laptops issued to students and spied on students in their homes is shaping up to be a significant case for those interested in surveillance issues, the Fourth Amendment, and/or student privacy. In the most recent developments, the FBI and…
Official: FBI probing Pa. school webcam spy case
MaryClaire Dale reports that the school spycam case has not been ratcheted up a notch: The FBI is investigating a Pennsylvania school district accused of secretly activating webcams inside students’ homes, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press on Friday. The FBI will explore whether Lower Merion School District…