School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home.

[Harakiri]

I bet my principal has planted a bug on me right now, on my neck, a microscopic bug that tracks me and somehow can connect with my internet and show him what I am doing right now. HA! I have foiled your plan! Now what, you going to suspend me before I sue?

 

Seriously, I've found this hilarious. My only question is, why would they infringe upon the privacy of these kids? Did they not think someone would find out? I will say what a lot of people are saying and say it is unconstitutional and I think that each student who was spied upon is told what the principal or teachers or whoever were watching them saw, and decide from there how much they should sue. I've always known the government and secret organizations are watching you and listening in to you, but it scares me that my teachers could be like Ceiling Cat and spy on me while I break one of the ten commandments...

[dsavi]

The solution is painfully simple- Nuke them from orbit. Put Linux on them.

 

Man, I wish I went to that school. The money I could make off Ubuntu installs. :lol:

[scootlaboot]

I know if I was one of the parents, there would be hell to pay. This is why we need a zombie apocalypse. Well not really, but the end of the world would be awesome right about now.

[The Observer]

Ugh, good thing I don't use my webcam, or even hook it up. Like really, what happens when they flick it on when students are getting dressed?

[Racheya]

I always find it bizarre when an educational issue comes up and all the Americans here talk about having drug searches and school lockdowns and it leaves me wondering WTF? I don't know if it's just because I'm in a deprived area but in my last 7 years of education I've never come across teachers searching students for anything. I could bring a ton of knives into school with my bag and they wouldn't know... It's just odd to me :P

 

Wouldn't the webcams only work if you've got the laptop turned on though? Does seem kinda creepy though.

[Amaranth_GTO]

It's bad enough that they were peeping on the kid, but who on earth thought it would be a good idea to punish the kid for this? They should have known that punishing the kid for what he did, and using webcam photos as proof, would lead anyone with half a brain to the conclusion that the school can spy on the students using their webcam. He should have known that there would have been serious public backlash for this.

[RSBDavid]

If my school were to give laptops with web cams and if I could get a girl friend. I would freak the people watching out. Yes, my future girl friend and I would be doing 'stuff'. Stuff as in playing monopoly.

[1230abcz]

*tapes piece of paper over camera*

 

I win. At life.

[magmaguard3]

So what was the inappropriate behaviour anyway?

 

I think they accused the student of using drugs in his home.

[1230abcz]

So what was the inappropriate behaviour anyway?

 

I think they accused the student of using drugs in his home.

 

 

If I recall correctly, they can't do [cabbage] about that information if they procured it illegitimately (i.e. through unconstitutional means). If a cop sees a burglar smuggling drugs and decides to open his car (without a court order), the cop can't use any evidence found in that venture in the court of law, even if he happened to find a suitcase of plutonium and a nuke signed by Osama Bin Laden.

[Pinkbullet3]

Well, I guess if the school tells the person's parents, then he's screwed. :mellow:

 

As of yesterday, I have stuck a small square of electrical tape on my camera, just for safe measure. Not because I think the school might be looking (which it can't, because the laptop's never even been in my school), but because of hackers that might be able to spy.

 

:thumbup: Nothing wrong with what I've done, amirite. Just take it off when I use the camera, put it back on when I'm not.

[BlindBaker]

So what was the inappropriate behaviour anyway?

 

I think they accused the student of using drugs in his home.

 

 

If I recall correctly, they can't do [cabbage] about that information if they procured it illegitimately (i.e. through unconstitutional means). If a cop sees a burglar smuggling drugs and decides to open his car (without a court order), the cop can't use any evidence found in that venture in the court of law, even if he happened to find a suitcase of plutonium and a nuke signed by Osama Bin Laden.

Actually, this is where "probable cause" comes in. Say a cop has a warrant to search your home for say, crack, but he can only search one floor. If he notices the smell of a dead body coming from the basement (yeah, I know that's a terrible place to hide a body, but you get the point), he is allowed to go downstairs and take a look around.

 

Now, at my school, the principal is allowed to search any car in the parking lot for no reason at all. If he's just walking around one day and says "Hey, look at that car over there. I feel like digging through it for no reason other than it's fun," then he can. "Probable cause? What's that?"

[____]

Now, at my school, the principal is allowed to search any car in the parking lot for no reason at all. If he's just walking around one day and says "Hey, look at that car over there. I feel like digging through it for no reason other than it's fun," then he can. "Probable cause? What's that?"

Ah.. what's the go when they do search a vehicle?

 

Does he physically enter the vehicle (breaking a window, calling a locksmith, etc) or does the student have to be present to let him in? If the student isn't present and entry is made not using the keys for it.. I'd seriously start calling the cops saying that you've seen someone suspicious in the school parking lot and you think they're trying to boost a car, or steal electronics, etc. Give them the description on the principal.

[Kenshinjapan]

Now, at my school, the principal is allowed to search any car in the parking lot for no reason at all. If he's just walking around one day and says "Hey, look at that car over there. I feel like digging through it for no reason other than it's fun," then he can. "Probable cause? What's that?"

Ah.. what's the go when they do search a vehicle?

 

Does he physically enter the vehicle (breaking a window, calling a locksmith, etc) or does the student have to be present to let him in? If the student isn't present and entry is made not using the keys for it.. I'd seriously start calling the cops saying that you've seen someone suspicious in the school parking lot and you think they're trying to boost a car, or steal electronics, etc. Give them the description on the principal.

 

Your rights are given up to an extend when you enroll in a public school. The supreme court has done several cases involving freedom of speech and protest on school grounds and they always side with the school. In actuality, you're just borrowing your locker/parking space from the school and since it's their property, they can search it whenever they want.

[Furah]

Read more in a newspaper, the school can only take a still image and no audio remotely. The boy was eating a lolly and the school thought he was dealing drugs. What the [bleep]?

[____]

Now, at my school, the principal is allowed to search any car in the parking lot for no reason at all. If he's just walking around one day and says "Hey, look at that car over there. I feel like digging through it for no reason other than it's fun," then he can. "Probable cause? What's that?"

Ah.. what's the go when they do search a vehicle?

 

Does he physically enter the vehicle (breaking a window, calling a locksmith, etc) or does the student have to be present to let him in? If the student isn't present and entry is made not using the keys for it.. I'd seriously start calling the cops saying that you've seen someone suspicious in the school parking lot and you think they're trying to boost a car, or steal electronics, etc. Give them the description on the principal.

 

Your rights are given up to an extend when you enroll in a public school. The supreme court has done several cases involving freedom of speech and protest on school grounds and they always side with the school. In actuality, you're just borrowing your locker/parking space from the school and since it's their property, they can search it whenever they want.

Yea.. but the vehicle isn't theirs tho.. so there has to be a line somewhere? :unsure:

[dsavi]

So what was the inappropriate behaviour anyway?

 

I think they accused the student of using drugs in his home.

I heard from a friend of a friend that they accused him of popping prescription drugs in his bedroom, but in actuality they were Mike n Ikes.

Yeah, according to Slashdot that's what was going on.

 

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/02/22/1814248/School-Spying-Scandal-Gets-Even-More-Bizarre

[Youmu]

I really, really hope this kind of school spying gets banned...

 

Sure, the school cares about their students, but punishing them for something they did outside of school? Lol.

 

The students should hack into the webcams so that it becomes basically useless.

[dsavi]

I really, really hope this kind of school spying gets banned...

 

Sure, the school cares about their students, but punishing them for something they did outside of school? Lol.

 

The students should hack into the webcams so that it becomes basically useless.

It wouldn't even involve hacking, probably just gaining administrative access and killing a process. If that wouldn't do it, then the program(s) used is well and truly spyware.

[Nenga]

I really, really hope this kind of school spying gets banned...

 

Sure, the school cares about their students, but punishing them for something they did outside of school? Lol.

 

The students should hack into the webcams so that it becomes basically useless.

It wouldn't even involve hacking, probably just gaining administrative access and killing a process. If that wouldn't do it, then the program(s) used is well and truly spyware.

It would require hacking, schools wont just give you administrative access.

[Michigander]

School administrative positions are for wannabe cops and no one else. At my school we have something they call the "zero tolerance policy", I'm not sure exactly how this works because I don't do bad things. But it's something along the lines of, you do something bad outside of school, they do something bad to your school grades, attendance record, ect.

I think the parents should get a lawyer to take a look at their situation. The school probably has some trickery in the usage contract for the laptops to prevent them being sued though.

[Furah]

Zero tolerance policy is where they won't stand any of that kind of behaviour/object. This can be a zero tolerance policy on any fighting, so you push another kid because he is annoying/different/whatever and the school will suspend or expel you.

It may be a cause of zero tolerance policy on guns, even bringing a toy that resembles a gun could get you suspended/expelled.

[Assume Nothing]

Heh, another zero tolerance thread. I think it's stupid, and most schools push it too far. One of my old threads had a girl, 14, strip searched for.... wait for it... pills that are as strong as 2 Ibuprofen. Seriously?

 

And what's worse - The alleged 'evidence' was apparently (very vague on this, couldn't remember much of it) a friend who said she carried it, thus the school decided it might've been attached to her nude body.

 

The school in this thread should really be closed down, I'm pretty sure it breaches human rights laws. It's use of spyware/bugs, possibly contains child pornography, and more!

[1230abcz]

What's stopping students from "accidentally" dropping a piece of paper with tape on the back of it on to the laptop's camera? Maybe we should stop blaming the school and start blaming the idiot kids for not trying this out at least once.

[Assume Nothing]

What's stopping students from "accidentally" dropping a piece of paper with tape on the back of it on to the laptop's camera? Maybe we should stop blaming the school and start blaming the idiot kids for not trying this out at least once.

 

I'm not too sure but I doubt they'd KNOW it was happening. I mean, if you knew your webcam is sending live feeds onto the internet, would you do nothing about it?

 

Technically, it's the school's wrongdoing and they should pay the consequences, for invasion of privacy, breach of human rights, etc. Even though they caught the dude taking drugs in his own home, the way the school did it was illegal. I wouldn't really care much if these students were spied on in school, since normal security cameras do roughly the same job. But at their own home - The student could be.... say... masturbating? Nothing wrong with that, except for being taped by a school.

 

Seriously though - I think schools should really get rid of the zero tolerance thing. They tend to push the line alot. I mean, 14 year old stripsearches and now this... what next?