Lawyer: Laptops took thousands of images
The system that Lower Merion school officials used to track lost and stolen laptops wound up secretly capturing thousands of images, including photographs of students in their homes, Web sites they visited, and excerpts of their online chats, says a new motion filed in a suit against the district.
More than once, the motion asserts, the camera on Robbins’ school-issued laptop took photos of Robbins as he slept in his bed. Each time, it fired the images off to network servers at the school district. Back at district offices, the Robbins motion says, employees with access to the images marveled at the tracking software. It was like a window into “a little LMSD soap opera,” a staffer is quoted as saying in an e-mail to Carol Cafiero, the administrator running the program.
“I know, I love it,” she is quoted as having replied.
Those details, disclosed in the motion filed late Thursday in federal court by Robbins’ attorney, offer a wider glimpse into the now-disabled program that spawned Robbins’ lawsuit and has shined an international spotlight on the district.
In the filing, the Penn Valley family claims the district’s records show that the controversial tracking system captured more than 400 photos and screen images from 15-year-old Blake Robbins’ school-issued laptop during two weeks last fall, and that “thousands of webcam pictures and screen shots have been taken of numerous other students in their homes.”Robbins, a sophomore at Harriton High School, and his parents, Michael and Holly Robbins, contend e-mails turned over to them by the district suggest Cafiero “may be a voyeur” who might have viewed some of the photos on her home computer.
The motion says Cafiero, who has been placed on paid leave, has failed to turn that computer over to the plaintiffs despite a court order to do so, and asks a judge to sanction her.
I’m sure these cameras were turned off at the appropriate moments.
I still think there is child porn somewhere in this story.
“Cafiero, declined to answer Haltzman’s questions, asserting her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.”
Seriously, how much more an admission of guilt do people need? This sick pedophile and anyone else who participated in or enabled this to occur need to have more done than to be simply placed on PAID leave.
Perhaps prison time with their crimes made public knowledge to the rest of the prison population to start with…
Looks like a strong wrist slap for both parties needs to be issued here. Falls into the category of:
“Never underestimate the tendency of people to try to justify their behavior, no matter how questionable it may be on moral or legal grounds.”
Watch it wind up on the video streaming sites before long.
Cursor_
Wow this school invasion of privacy by schools has really become an epidemic. Unfortunately I wish I could say I was surprised but I’m not.
#4, we can only hope. That is the only thing that will truly make some heads roll. At the moment it looks like one employee getting paid vacation is going to be the end of it as the discipline will go. One person didn’t install the software, approve it, and I would bet more than one person used it inappropriately.
Saddest part seems to be that no school official or even office worker who knew this was happening EVER said “Hey guys, are you sure this isn’t violating some law?”
Sofaguru nailed it on justification.
THE BIG question is, why is the school buying laptops? Has high school work gotten so hard that laptops are needed? I think by having students actually read, write, and most importantly develop their math skills is a better use of resources. I don’t believe putting your trials and tribulations on a facebook page is a skill set for success.
I just sent mine to college this fall and he didn’t have a laptop (my old M275 tablet)till now.
@#2 Problem are Teacher Unions. In NYC there are teachers accused and convicted of literally groping children who can’t be fired and are on paid suspension for years… Just try and fire anyone in any public school system…
Back to the story: FBI should find enough evidence to prosecute every single person with any role in this… Happy to see parents fighting strong and not folding over.
Ha! These idiots are headed out the door. They’ll be lucky to get school janitor jobs, if they stay out of jail!
If this is the same story I read this morning the school system said it took pictures trying to locate 45 missing laptops. The boy in question did not have permission to take the machine home.
If this is correct then I think the courts will rule that if you jack a laptop the owner can do what they need to do to locate it.
We’ll see.
“Never attribute to malice, that which can be explained by stupidity”
#12…
I have another version of that which also works well.
“Never attribute to conspiracy that which can be explained by incompetence.”
# 8 cloewe said,
Maybe this program is bankrolled by the future police state. Or, there will be some convictions and long jail terms in this case.
tape over all built-in cams!!!
#12 and #13 –
Ditto…got it
“The most common element in the Universe is NOT hydrogen. It’s stupidity!” – Frank Zappa
But hey Frank, we’re doin the best we can…okay?
“The district has said it turned on the camera in Robbins’ computer because his family had not paid the $55 insurance fee and he was not authorized to take the laptop home.”
OK, let’s assume that’s true. The students were not allowed to have the laptops because the parents did not pay some fee.
Even if we accept that as true, why turn on the camera?! How does that get the laptop back when you know who has it and where it is?!
Just call up the parents and say, “You need to pay the insurance fee. Thanks.” How fricken hard is that?
And after you accuse the kid of using drugs, because you took pictures of him eating candy, why the frick didn’t you ask him for the unpaid insurance fee?!
This excuse is complete BS!
Sorry to poke fun at very serious topic but…
This is most likely a beta test for a new the front-end for a CPS’s (child protective services) “Child at Home Shopping Network” – –One Stop Shopping for all your Government Sponsored Pedophilia needs”
-and if you think i’m joking, then you haven’t done research into how long this sort of thing has been going on..
The recent accusations against the Church, Pope et al, is just the tip of the iceberg. Governments here and abroad have been “sharing” their dirty laundry with the Church in this regard.. it’s some really sick sh*t that’s been going on since the beginning of time.
-s
Don’t Wake Me Up
http://youtube.com/watch?v=17ut-qI1rq4
Who Authorized this project? Mark Foley?
# 1 Benjamin said,”I still think there is child porn somewhere in this story.”
Let’s see. Teenagers alone in bed. Hand lotion and a box of tissues on the table. Nope. No opportunity for porn there!
# 8 cloewe said, “I just sent mine to college this fall [with]…my old M275 tablet…”
Even more child abuse!
#19 Sheesh, I thought the video would be at least slightly relevant to the topic. It’s NOT!
As for the laptops: Anyone who participated in this scam should be barred from any state or federal jobs in the future, not just teaching.
I agree that the teacher’s union is out of control. I had several knock-down drag-out “discussions” with my brother over that. He is a teacher and defends the union tooth and nail. When I cite the affect on students’ long term prospects and low test scores he inevitably chases himself back to talking about how rough teachers have it with out of control gang bangers and their clueless, loser parents. I kept telling him, “Remember, this discussion is about students.” Every single discussion drifts inevitably back to focusing on how this policy or that policy affects the teachers, as if the school exists for their benefit rather than the students. It’s the clearest case of the tail wagging the dog that I’ve ever seen.
Seems it should fall under the Federal Wire Tap Law and since no warrants were sought or issued, someone should be on the hook for some FELONY CHARGES !!!
Funny, my local school system has fired several teachers without any fuss. The only time the teachers’ union made a stand was when a parent wanted a teacher fired for having her high school English class read “The Grapes of Wrath”.
This story still makes me sick.
>“I know, I love it,” she is quoted as having replied.
Sounds an awful lot like,”Is the bitch dead yet”, a quote attributed to the husband of Terri Schiavo.
If a student steals a laptop, do they have a reasonable expectation of privacy?
Irregardless, wouldn’t it be better to have a GPS tracker embedded in the laptop?
I don’t know if laptops come with this feature but it seems like a great idea. Maybe somebody here could make some money off a patent on this feature!
#17 Did the school system know where it was? As you noted _it wasn’t supposed to be at his house_. He did _not_ have permission to take the computer home.
If it wasn’t at his house then no pictures the school system took using the computer could be taken at his house. No invasion of pricey could have occurred. In fact so far as I can tell nobody with a legal right to take a computer home had their privacy invaded.
One of the basic rules I’ve tried to share with students and friend for staying out of trouble is; If it isn’t yours leave it alone!
The school system did _not_ sneak a camera into this kid’s house to take pictures; he walked off with what he didn’t own without the owners permission.
If he had been given permission and the school system had done an invasion of privacy I’d be all over them but when you take what isn’t yours then the owners do have the right to try and find out where the heck their property is and who has it.
If the school system had been taking pictures in homes with computers the students were allowed to take home I’d be all over this _but_ if this machine was taken without permission as far as I’m concerned the school system had a right to turn on those cameras and anyone that disagrees is welcome to walk out to sea while carrying a large rock.
The family should be gratefully the school system didn’t have his butt arrested and let them explain why the computer was at his house to a judge in fact I think that is what they should have done ASAP after locating the machine.
Either that or contacted the parents, if possible, and got them, the student, and the computer to the Assistant Principal’s office for a nice chat.
I will add I’d want a gps unit in every laptop if I were a school system letting students take the things home and an insurance policy. You can’t trust parents to pay for jack.
>> deowll said
>> The school system did _not_ sneak a camera into this kid’s house to take pictures; he walked off with what he didn’t own without the owners permission.
You nailed the key issue.
When the student stole the laptop, he TOOK a video cam into his bedroom.
The school didn’t put it there.
Even so, a GPS anti-theft tracking feature would be so much better.
You do know GPS doesn’t really work indoors?