PHILADELPHIA — A suburban Philadelphia school district used the webcams in school-issued laptops to spy on students at home, potentially catching them and their families in compromising situations, a family claims in a federal lawsuit.
Lower Merion School District officials would not comment on the accusation, but angry students have already responded by putting tape over their laptop cameras and microphones.
The school district can activate the webcams without students’ knowledge or permission, the suit said. Plaintiffs Michael and Holly Robbins suspect the cameras captured students and family members as they undressed and in other embarrassing situations, according to the suit.
Such actions would amount to potentially illegal electronic wiretapping, said Witold J. Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, which is not involved.
The Robbinses said they learned of the alleged webcam images when an assistant principal at Harriton High School told their son Blake that school officials thought he had engaged in improper behavior at home.
