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Philly web spying scandal – tip of the iceberg?
Published: 24 February, 2010, 07:46
Edited: 24 February, 2010, 14:35
TAGS: Scandal, Human rights, Law, Internet, USA
A student in the US city of Philadelphia is suing his local school district for spying on him using his school-issued laptop. Radio Host Alex Jones told RT said that software is available for all kinds of abuse.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
In November, a Harriton High School assistant principal confronted 15-year-old Blake Robbins with a photo from the web camera, which allegedly showed the boy’s "improper behavior" at home.
Authorities insist that the web cameras are used on school laptops as a security feature and are activated only in case they are lost or stolen.
Radio host Alex Jones thinks that this case may have deep roots.
“Three years ago I discovered the federal government, through grants, is paying all over the US for public schools, even private schools, and is giving them taxpayer funded laptops enabled with this software and encouraging the schools to watch them [students] in the school and when they are at home,” he said.
24.02.2010, 00:55
16 comments
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Whoever suggested spying on the kids at their homes was really not thinking about all the risks to the school district. What happens if they get pictures of students taking their clothes off? Is that then child pornography? How many teachers and school administrators are thinking about what legal liability they will face? People saving those pictures to use against the students later could be branded "sex offenders" under the "zero tolerance" laws we now have. The laws are so strict in some states that teenagers have been labeled sex offenders because they were caught having sex when they were under age! This school district is in big trouble, but sad to say, it is not alone. Many schools are already doing or considering the same thing. They are opening themselves up to HUGE lawsuits, for multiple reasons.