dreadedmonkeygod . net

So, the Lower Merion School District in Philadelphia gave out laptops equipped with webcams to students. And then they diciplined a student for "inappropriate behavior at home", citing a photo taken with the webcam as evidence.

The student has sued the school district for invasion of privacy.

Lower Merion School District Superintendent Dr. Christopher W. McGinly has admitted that the laptops given to students are equipped with a webcam that can be activated remotely to help locate a laptop, "in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student."

The extent to which the cameras were used remains unknown.

I'm sure that any minute now the school district will produce the paper trail indicating that the laptop had been reported lost, missing, or stolen, and that the technical staff had been authorized to activate the webcam in order to help locate it.

I'm not holding my breath.

The best part here is that the district cited the student for "inappropriate behavior at home" because they thought they'd caught him taking illegal drugs. Two problems with this: first, the "pills" were Mike and Ikes. Second, if the Lower Merion School District had evidence that a student was in posession of illegal drugs, isn't that a matter for the police?

Of course, going to the cops might lead to awkward questions like, "Why are you using webcams to spy on underage kids at home?"

The best place to follow the developing story is Wikipedia, and the FBI is now investigating the matter.