We have talked a lot about what schools should be allowed to do to children. Videotaping them in classrooms is something that has gained a lot of support in some circles, but how about this? Taking pictures of them through their laptops in their own home.
This lawsuit was already settled once but it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Kids keep coming forward and more evidence keeps sprouting up. Basically this school district gave all of its kids laptops with a tracking anti-theft feature that will allow them to take photographs of someone who has stolen the laptop in order to find it. This technology was recently used to find a thief by Cory Doctorow’s blog, Boingboing, and it was funny to read about and see the pictures of the thief, since he was a thief. So the software is legitimate and has actually worked to return stolen property to owners before. The problem arose when the school was discovered using it after one student’s missing laptop was recovered. The monitoring was never turned off and the student discovered hundred of photos of himself using the laptop. Not only did the school system not inform students that this was in use, but they started taking pictures of students in their homes without them knowing and using them to justify disciplinary actions. Without parental knowledge or consent.
We will likely never know what prompted the administrators to start doing this, how they justified their actions or even how often they used it. They have denied everything time and time again and lawyers keep showing more and more evidence contradicting their claims of innocence. This makes it unlikely we will ever get a clear idea of the story. One of the administrators was accused of downloading nude photos of students taken by these cameras to her own computer.
"Discovery to date has now revealed that thousands of webcam pictures and screen shots (.pdf) have been taken from numerous other students in their homes, many of which never reported their laptops lost or missing,” attorney Mark Haltzman wrote in a Thursday federal court filing.
What a nightmare for these kids! Personally I think these administrators should be prosecuted. Holding the district fiscally responsible for damages is not nearly enough of a deterrent to tell administrators how strongly we feel that this is wrong. I know that educating teenagers is a difficult job, but how far are we willing to let these people go? Should they really feel so justified in having carte blanche over their students' private lives that they think this is in any way ok? What do you guys think?
Is this webcam surveillance a product that can be purchased for a personal computer? It sounds like a good tool that libraries could use if they wanted to loan out laptop computers.
ReplyDeleteI agree that these administrators should be prosecuted. They are not justified to invade the privacy of students’ homes. Teenagers go through enough as it is, and they do not need the stress of school administrators monitoring their every move without knowing it. If there is enough evidence and no reasonable explanation for these administrators’ actions, then they should be prosecuted, locked up, and monitored 24/7, just like they monitored the students. Teenagers can be difficult, but they do not deserve this kind of emotional distress.
The administrators should definitely be prosecuted. If any other person had been caught with pictures of minors they would get in trouble and even have to register as sex offenders, so why would administrators be any different?
ReplyDeleteThey have no business spying on the students. That was one problem at my high school, they didn't spy on us but they allowed others to make phone calls and tell on other students. I had friends that would get called to the principal to talk about things they were doing outside of school.
It's hard enough to get teenagers to trust administrators or teachers. So with something like this happening, who will the students turn to when they have a real problem?
Whoa!!! What a crazy situation! In no way do I think this is right. I do not think that schools should even be able take pictures using their student’s laptops. I kind of see it the way that libraries see it when patron’s check out CD’s. What they choose to do with those CD while they are in their possession is their choice. I think the same goes for a school issued laptop. If schools are so worried about what students will do with their laptops, then why give the students laptops?
ReplyDeleteAs for taking a photo of the thief, I find this interesting, but not necessary. This is why people usually have insurance on these things. I think the school should just turn it into the insurance and forget about it. I wonder if the software to take the pictures was more cost beneficial than taking out an insurance policy on the laptops?
This situation is crazy, and it honestly makes me a little paranoid. I bought a new computer in March and it has a built-in webcam. I have been warned by friends that work in IT with the National Guard to keep the camera covered or turned off because it can be remotely accessed (so they say), but I never really bothered with it. I have heard several times what sounds like a camera shutter click while I am working, but I convinced myself it was all in my head. I don't want to sound all 'conspiracy theory' like, but can computer producers like Apple have remote access to your device? What if this security theft protection became a common practice outside of schools? Or, what if webcams are allowing the government to really 'see' who is looking at what on the internet?
ReplyDeleteAshley, I will never have a Microsoft Kinect attached to my Xbox 360, which I love far too much for a 34-year old woman, because someone from Microsoft hinted one time that in the future they may take pics through it in order to more effectively advertise.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.engadget.com/2010/11/15/microsoft-exec-caught-in-privacy-snafu-says-kinect-might-tailor/
So I understand your paranoia - it is definitely something they have thought about!
Another shocking thing to consider is where all of these photos were held? Are they on the laptops? Are they on a school server?
ReplyDeleteAnd even worse is who has access to these photos?
Say a student decides to browse the web nude--now you have a case of child pornography. The administrators that decided this is a good idea should definitely lose their jobs and should be prosecuted. To think that they can control what students do outside of the school is just ridiculous.
This entire story made me uncomfortable. It actually reminded me of a part in Cory Doctorow's Little Brother where Marcus uses the scenario of taking a poop, naked, in a glass box in the middle of Times Square to illustrate a major violation of privacy. The administration had absolutely no right to do what they did. For them to even deny charges, with all the evidence stacked against them, is ridiculous. I say that these people should have been prosecuted.
ReplyDelete