Lower Merion School District.... [is] even able to provide Apple MacBook laptops to all 2,300 students in its Harriton High School--a luxury that's increasingly looking more creepy than admirable.
Students had been reporting for the last year that the tiny green LED light next to their school-provided laptop's webcam had been lighting up at random times, indicating the webcam itself was in use, for no clear reason. That problem was waved off as a technical glitch by the school's security and technology department.
But two days ago, sophomore Blake Robbins filed a disturbing lawsuit against the school district. He was disciplined by the high school's vice principal for "improper behavior in his home," with the vice principal citing photos taken by his laptop as evidence of this vague wrongdoing. After some digging, it was discovered that the school had installed software on the laptops that allowed the security and technology department to remotely take photos using the laptops' webcams...(!!!)
Read the Fast Company story here.
