According to a new lawsuit filed recently, the Lower Merion School District issued laptops to students, and then used the built-in webcams to spy on them. The school allegedly spied on the kids not only during school hours, but also at home… invading families’ privacy.

The parent who filed the suit allegedly disciplined his child in an “inappropriate” manner. The school then reported the incident to authorities by using a photograph taken with the webcam. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.

If it is true that the school could turn on the cams from a remote location and were using them to spy on the students… the world has sunken to a new low. This is just creepy, and wrong. I think if a school ever issues a laptop to my child, I’ll be covering up the webcam with some black duct tape!

What are your thoughts? Do you feel that the school district has the right to “spy” on a student if using a school-issued laptop? Or, is that a serious invasion of privacy? (I’m leaning toward the privacy issues, of course.)

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