Dear Forum Members

I have just come across this surprising story of the possible use of school laptops being used, by the school's authorities, to spy on students and their families.

Here's the article: BBC News - US school accused of web spying

The school involved are now saying that the installed spying equipment was only supposed to be used if and when the laptop got stolen but it was actually used to keep an eye on the students while they were in their homes.

The thing that is upper most in my mind at the moment is what right did the school authorities think they had that enabled them to spy on their student's families?



UK Bob

PS. Spys = Spies

wow that is dirty! Quick responses not in any particular order: Firstly, if they intended to include any such item the knowledge of its presence should have been fully disclosed to all parents before the laptops were given out. Secondly, it should have been an optional feature not secretly hidden on all laptops given out. Thirdly, the proposal to do this should have been discussed with parents before the laptops even became available. Many schools have parent-teacher groups that discuss issues such as this and should have been put to them to discuss its plusses & minuses & whether the parents would agree (possibly via a parental letter with a reply-poll questionnaire) on the topic proposal before it was adopted.

The full abilities of this spyware were hidden. The school claims this and that in retrospect, however such spyware can potentially be loaded with nasty little tricks including spying on their internet movements, email spying (including gathering their email addresses), access to all their private files & documents, and at worse, actually sending files to their computer or deleting files or doing some other kind of remote control over their computer.

Depends on location such as country & local laws as to what kind of privacy laws would have been broken. I'd tend to think this would break laws in most parts of world in one form or another including cyber laws. Not to mention lots of other privacy & spy laws & tracking laws etc.

In most states in the US students have very few of the same rights as their parents (even though one would expect children to enjoy extra protection). I am sure it was that line of thinking that led to the installed spyware.

While the authorities say it was only used to locate stolen laptops, the article stated,
"They say their son was told off by teachers for 'engaging in improper behaviour in his home' and that the evidence was an image from his webcam." They did not say that his computer was stolen, so why did they turn on the cam?

And what was the "improper behaviour"? If they had gotten a photo of a student while in a stage of undress, they would have been guilty of posessing child porn!

Hey teachers, leave those kids alone!

Blackhorse 70V

As you are a US citizen you probably understand this better than I do but I do find the two points that stick out in your post most disturbing.

You said: This seems to say that the school authorities took it upon themselves, or awarding themselves extra judicial powers, to protect their students from their parents. And therefore had no intention of consulting parents about this remote spyware or anything else concerning the operation of these machines.

You also said: I won't go into what this kid was doing but it seems to me that the school was trying to indulge in a spot of "social engineering". Whenever an organisation employs social engineering techniques, for whatever reason, it always ends up being unfair to some and beneficial for the elite few while giving itself the "air" of false respectability.

To summerise, spying on people and social engineering are evils we've seen to have devastating results in the 20th century, results called Nazism and Communism.


UK Bob

UK Bob that last summation was very true and very sad to know that this particular thing (social engineering) is still going on.
Someone had other motives besides security over those laptops, and the school board needs to be held responsible/accountable whatever, maybe even made an example out of, so I say hit that school boards pockets hard and at least a message will be sent to that particular County/Sate.

One Step at a time
Wayback

If they were really only interested in using this as a security feature for when a laptop was stolen, all they would need to put into the laptops would be a GPS device. Why would a school give kids a laptop with a webcam built in it that was meant for educational purposes only? Yeah, they've screwed themselves all the way around with this one. Dirty spys.

I didn't even think about that, why did they have computers with cams... Things that make you say Hmmm...

Just remember, if it can be done it will be done.....

That stuff they teach you in school about how we're better than all that, is BS.

It just turns me off to everything political. What a load of CRAP!

__________________
If it ain't broke, fix it till it is!

Hey Guys

I think a moderator zapped my reply to 6_pac, may be it was too political?????


UK Bob

no .. not sure what happened UKBOB .. 'your' posts should not end up in moderation queue in any case. And nothing removed from this thread according to moderation logs. All I can guess is one of those rare freak forum buggy moments & post lost.