Harrington High School
Weighing the risks
19/02/10 11:56 AM Filed in: Noteworthy News
I've been keeping a close eye on the story concerning the law suit filed against the Pa. school district that is accused of crossing privacy lines by using web cams on laptops to spy on their students with. The school finally did issue a statement stating they use the remote feature only in the case of a stolen laptop, and at no time have they ever violated privacy laws. I'm not much impressed with said statement though given the fact that I keep reading where a student was accused of inappropriate behavior in his home, and apparently presented with a photograph as evidence of that behavior that was taken with the built in web cam. So far, there has been no indication that the student's laptop was ever reported stolen.
Even with privacy safeguards like the school claims it has followed in place, isn't there a risk that a hacker could gain control of the remote feature on those distributed laptops via one of their Trojan Horse or other programs? And isn't there a terrible irony in the possibility that a hacker could possibly gain control of computers given to students to work on via such a Trojan Horse program? When one considers just how sick and vicious some of the hackers and trolls roaming the internet today are, I think the question of just how safe the laptops given to students really are, most definitely needs to be addressed. Should the answer to that question be not 100% safe, then when one considers what could happen if a hacker with pedophile tendencies gained control of one or more of those distributed laptops, it is enough to chill the blood of any loving parent.
Giving laptops out for students to work on is a wonderful idea. However, given the possible potential for misuse by the schools themselves, as well as by hackers, it is a wonderful idea that needs to be carefully thought out and well studied to insure that those gifts do not themselves become Trojan Horses that could wind up biting the givers and receivers of those gifts in the butt in some very sad and savage ways. What the school in Pa. has been accused of, could wind up only being the tip of the iceberg where that matter is concerned. Think about it.......
Even with privacy safeguards like the school claims it has followed in place, isn't there a risk that a hacker could gain control of the remote feature on those distributed laptops via one of their Trojan Horse or other programs? And isn't there a terrible irony in the possibility that a hacker could possibly gain control of computers given to students to work on via such a Trojan Horse program? When one considers just how sick and vicious some of the hackers and trolls roaming the internet today are, I think the question of just how safe the laptops given to students really are, most definitely needs to be addressed. Should the answer to that question be not 100% safe, then when one considers what could happen if a hacker with pedophile tendencies gained control of one or more of those distributed laptops, it is enough to chill the blood of any loving parent.
Giving laptops out for students to work on is a wonderful idea. However, given the possible potential for misuse by the schools themselves, as well as by hackers, it is a wonderful idea that needs to be carefully thought out and well studied to insure that those gifts do not themselves become Trojan Horses that could wind up biting the givers and receivers of those gifts in the butt in some very sad and savage ways. What the school in Pa. has been accused of, could wind up only being the tip of the iceberg where that matter is concerned. Think about it.......
Pa school is playing Big Brother
18/02/10 05:28 PM Filed in: Noteworthy News
We are living a world where many people are getting far too accustomed to having their privacy invaded in various ways by technology. Google maps are zooming in on homes and businesses all over the world. GPS devices are being used in a variety of ways that sometimes cross legal lines when they used by stalkers to pinpoint the location of their victims. RATT phones supplied by suspicious spouses and other nosey people are listening in to what should be private conversations. And now a Pa. school district has done the unthinkable, and is accused of eavesdropping on its students inside their homes via remote controlled web cams on the laptops it supplied to said students. Suit: Pa. school spied on students via laptops (AP)
When you take into consideration that students are very likely to take those laptops supplied by the school into their bedrooms to do homework on, the idea of the school having remote web cams that can be turned on at any time, is disgustingly scary to say the very least.
The real irony here is that this Big Brother behavior by the school was uncovered when an assistant principal told a student he thought he had engaged in inappropriate behavior at home, then produced a photograph taken by the web cam on the computer supplied by the school as evidence. None of the stories I've read so far have said what the inappropriate behavior of the young student was. I can't help but feel that whatever that student did, it isn't half as bad as what the school has done by invading the homes of its students in the manner it has.
Some students from that school are now placing masking tape over the web cams and microphones on their school supplied computers. And though many are probably going to laugh at this, I actually started putting a small piece of sticky note over the built in iSight cameras on my macs a couple of years ago after watching a movie where a hacker took control of a computer web cam. I figured even back then, better safe than sorry when it came to that all seeing little eye on the top of my display screen.
The Lower Merion School District should ashamed of itself for violating the privacy of its students, as well their parents in the manner it has. They are at best, guilty of a form of illegal wiretapping, and at worst, no better than a pedophile who puts hidden cameras in bathrooms. The faculty members responsible for this breach of privacy need to be held accountable for their actions. And the school district as a whole needs to understand that their job of monitoring students does not extend past the boundaries of the schoolyard.
When you take into consideration that students are very likely to take those laptops supplied by the school into their bedrooms to do homework on, the idea of the school having remote web cams that can be turned on at any time, is disgustingly scary to say the very least.
The real irony here is that this Big Brother behavior by the school was uncovered when an assistant principal told a student he thought he had engaged in inappropriate behavior at home, then produced a photograph taken by the web cam on the computer supplied by the school as evidence. None of the stories I've read so far have said what the inappropriate behavior of the young student was. I can't help but feel that whatever that student did, it isn't half as bad as what the school has done by invading the homes of its students in the manner it has.
Some students from that school are now placing masking tape over the web cams and microphones on their school supplied computers. And though many are probably going to laugh at this, I actually started putting a small piece of sticky note over the built in iSight cameras on my macs a couple of years ago after watching a movie where a hacker took control of a computer web cam. I figured even back then, better safe than sorry when it came to that all seeing little eye on the top of my display screen.
The Lower Merion School District should ashamed of itself for violating the privacy of its students, as well their parents in the manner it has. They are at best, guilty of a form of illegal wiretapping, and at worst, no better than a pedophile who puts hidden cameras in bathrooms. The faculty members responsible for this breach of privacy need to be held accountable for their actions. And the school district as a whole needs to understand that their job of monitoring students does not extend past the boundaries of the schoolyard.