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Robbins v. Lower Merion School District

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Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District is a class action suit brought by Blake J. Robbins and other students of Harriton High School[1] in the Lower Merion School District (LMSD), Pennsylvania, United States, for allegedly infringing upon the privacy of the students via remotely activated webcams in school-issued laptops while the laptops were being used by the students in their homes.[2][3] The case was brought after Robbins was allegedly disciplined at school, with a photograph taken by the webcam used as evidence. The matter has since begun to be investigated by the FBI, and is being cited as a cautionary example of how modern technology can impact personal privacy.[4]

Technical background

By the beginning of the 2009-2010 school district, LMSD had issued laptops to approximately 2300 high school students. As part of the One-to-one initiative, a program piloted in 2008 in Harriton High School and expanded in 2009 at Lower Merion High School, each student was given access to their own computer for both in-school and at-home use.[1] The school equipped the computers with LANrev's remote activation and tracking software including the now discontinued Theft Track, which allowed remote webcam activation.[5][6]

Two members of the student council of the school had twice confronted the principal more than a year prior to the suit, concerned "that the school could covertly photograph students using the laptops' cameras." Students were particularly bothered by the web-cam's flickering green activation light, which several students reported would periodically turn on when the camera wasn't in use. School officials denied that it was anything but a technical glitch, and offered to have the laptops looked at if students were concerned. In either the promotion of the laptop program or the individual contracts that students signed, the school made no mention of the computer's remote activation features.[5]

Michael Perbix, network technician within the Lower Merion school district[7] can be seen enthusiastically describing the spying capabilities of the LANrev software on a LANRev promotional video.[8] At time mark 35:47, Mr. Perbix states that when "you're controlling someone's machine, you don't want them to know what you're doing".[9] Perbix had previously praised Theft Track, the name of the feature that lets administrators remotely photographs potential thieves if a computer is reported stolen, noting in a Youtube video he produced that:

It's an excellent feature. Yes, we have used it, and yes, it has gleaned some results for us. But it, in and of itself, is just a fantastic feature for trying to—especially when you're in a school environment and you have a lot of laptops and you're worried about, you know, laptops getting up and missing. I've actually had some laptops we thought were stolen which actually were still in a classroom, because they were misplaced, and by the time we found out they were back, I had to turn the tracking off. And I had, you know, a good twenty snapshots of the teacher and students using the machines in the classroom.[10]

Mr. Perbix maintains his own blog in which he shares some of his techniques such as defeating the built-in Apple protection against remote camera activation.[11]

While remote activation of the webcam is currently deactivated (but not removed), surveillance of the students' computers is not limited to activating the webcam. Snapshots of instant messages, web browsing, music playlists, and written compositions can still be monitored and archived via screen capture.[12] LANrev can be programmed to automatically capture webcam pictures and screen captures and store these on the hard disk for later retrieval. These hard disk areas are not accessible by the student and can be deleted remotely by the LMSD. Removal of the hard drive is recommended for preserving forensic evidence.[13]

Suit

The suit alleges that school-issued laptop computers with built-in webcams were used by school staff to invade the students' privacy, specifically that school staff remotely activated the laptop cameras while the students had the laptops in their homes. The suit alleges that Robbins was disciplined for inappropriate behavior that occurred while he was at home, with a photograph taken by a school-issued laptop webcam cited as evidence.[2] According to the Philadelphia Daily News, "the lawsuit does not specify why the photograph was objectionable."[14]

The plaintiffs allege that "many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions" including "various stages of undress." The lawsuit claims are that the district's use of the webcams violates the Constitution's guarantees of privacy, as well as Pennsylvania common law and the U.S. Civil Rights Act. Robbins claims that he verified through assistant principal Lindy Matsko that the school district was able at any time to remotely activate the webcam in a student's laptop and view and capture whatever image was visible without the knowledge or consent of anyone in its line of sight.[15] According to KYW-TV, the Philadelphia affiliate of CBS News, Witold Walczak, the legal director for Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (not a party in the lawsuit) commented, "This is fodder for child porn."[16]

Ongoing events

On February 18, 2010, the school district posted a reply on their website stating that "The tracking-security feature was limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen," and that it "has only been used for the limited purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop."[17] "[T]his includes tracking down a loaner computer that, against regulations, might be taken off campus."[18] The complaint does not state whether Robbins' laptop had been reported stolen, and district spokesman Doug Young said the district cannot disclose that fact. He said the district never violated its policy of only using the remote-activation software to find missing laptops. "Infer what you want," Young said.[4]

On February 20, 2010, the plaintiffs' lawyer, Mark S. Haltzman of Lamm Rubenstone LLC, told MSNBC Live that the student had been eating "Mike and Ike" candy in front of the laptop assigned to him, in his own home. The attorney said that the school administrator had accused the student of using illegal drugs, after seeing him eating the candy in a webcam image. The lawyer said that his client's laptop had not been reported stolen or lost. The lawyer raised questions about who is deciding when to activate the webcam, and for what reasons.

The school district issued a statement on their website denying that the administrator at the school had ever used a photo taken by a school-issued laptop to discipline a student.[19] The administrator herself repeated this statement in video distributed to national media on February 24, 2010.[20]

At a hearing that week, Haltzman sought an injunction to prevent the school from re-activating the security feature. The school district avoided an injunction by voluntarily consenting to comply. In addition, the court issued a gag order, preventing the district from discussing the case without first clearing their communications with the plaintiff's attorney.[21][22][23]

In support of the motion for injunction, the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the plaintiffs. Citing relevant case law regarding privacy and unconstititional searches, the brief stated: "While the act of placing the camera inside students’ laptops may not implicate the Fourth Amendment, once the camera is used a search has occurred that, absent a warrant or consent, violates the Fourth Amendment" (see United States v. Karo, 1984).[24]

The school district has suggested that Blake was in possession of a loaner laptop, because he had not paid a $55 insurance fee which would have permitted him to use one of the regular computers. In a 2009 letter to parents from Harriton principal Steven R. Kline stated, "no uninsured laptops are permitted off campus," and explained that students who had not paid the insurance fee could use one of the loaners. Asked if Robbins took a loaner computer home without authorization, Young declined to comment.[25] The Philadelphia Inquirer speculated that, if the loaner was considered missing, the circumstances might have prompted the district to activate the Web cam.[26] Haltzman denied that Blake was ever notified that his computer use was a problem, and stated that Blake had taken a computer home "every single day" for a month.[27]

Responding to criticism that the Robbins family has been involved in several recent lawsuits, possibly stemming from accrued personal debt, Haltzman denied that financial issues or recent legal judgments have any relevance or are a source of motivation. Further, the class-action lawsuit brought by the Robbinses argues for class status on the grounds that individual compensation may be small, and therefore multiple parties will need to share in covering the legal fees.[28]

In a statement Blake made to the press on February 24, he emphasized that the case was neither about his vice principal's misconduct nor his own, but about the undisclosed spying capabilities which the district covertly maintained.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b "School district accused of spying on kids via laptop webcams". USA Today. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b "School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home". Boing Boing. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  3. ^ "Lawsuit: PA School District Using School-Issued Laptop Webcams to Spy on Students". America's Right website. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Official: FBI probing Pa. school webcam spy case". The Washington Post. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  5. ^ a b "School Laptop camera snapped away in one classroom". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  6. ^ http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/itdojo/?p=1559
  7. ^ LMSD Staff List, http://www.lmsd.org/sections/about/depart/tech/default.php?t=departments&p=depart_tech_techstaff
  8. ^ http://webcast.macenterprise.org/2008Webcasts/2008-05-20-LANrev-Webcast.zip
  9. ^ The Spy at Harrington High http://strydehax.blogspot.com/2010/02/spy-at-harrington-high.html
  10. ^ http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/24/headlines/fbi_us_attorney_probing_penn_school_districts_computer_spying
  11. ^ Turning off the Lightspeed LsSaAlerter in OSX http://bestsinceslicedbread.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
  12. ^ School spying: infected laptops mandatory, jailbreaking grounds for expulsion http://boingboing.net/2010/02/22/school-spying-infect.html
  13. ^ http://strydehax.blogspot.com/2010/02/spy-at-harrington-high.html
  14. ^ "Lower Merion School District sued for cyber spying on students". Philadelphia Daily News. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  15. ^ "School 'spied on pupils at home through webcams'". The Telegraph. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  16. ^ Official: FBI Probing Pa. School Webcam Spy Case, cbs3.com, February 20, 2010
  17. ^ "LMSD response to invasion of privacy allegation". Lower Merion School District website. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  18. ^ "Update from Dr. McGinley regarding high school student laptop security - 2/19/10". Lower Merion School District website. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  19. ^ "LMSD response to invasion of privacy allegation". Lower Merion School District website. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  20. ^ "Principal Accused in "WebcamGate": I'm No Spy". NBC News. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  21. ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/85011977.html
  22. ^ Lattanzio, Vince (February 20, 2010). "WebcamGate Teen: "I Hope They're Not Watching Me"". WCAV. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
  23. ^ Rivero, Claudia; Ryan, Bruce (February 20, 2010). "WebcamGate Family's Attorney: "Who Has Access"". WCAU. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
  24. ^ http://www.aclupa.org/downloads/Robbinsfinal.pd
  25. ^ http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20100222_Laptop_camera_snapped_away_in_one_classroom.html
  26. ^ http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20100225_Laptop_family_is_no_stranger_to_legal_disputes.html
  27. ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/85011977.html
  28. ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20100225_Laptop_family_is_no_stranger_to_legal_disputes.html
  29. ^ http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9162940/_Spygate_teenager_demands_webcam_pix_from_Pa._school?taxonomyId=15

External links

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