Apple notebook webcams implicated

A new lawsuit accuses a Philadelphia school district of spying on high school students, according to the Associated Press. The Lower Merion School District provides some 2,300 notebooks to students at the Harriton and Lower Merion High Schools. The legal case is being brought on behalf of Blake Robbins, a student who was told by a Harriton assistant principal that a webcam caught him doing something inappropriate at home.

Since the assigned computers are MacBooks, district workers are believed to have been connecting to students' computers using Remote Desktop. District officials insist that they have only recorded still images -- both of users and their desktops -- in cases where a computer was reported lost or stolen. The Robbins incident may imply otherwise however, and various anecdotes from other students suggest that iSight cameras have been regularly switching on, though whether photos were being taken remains uncertain.

The district says it has now completely disabled its tracking system, but this may be unlikely to halt legal action. The suit makes charges of privacy and wiretapping violations, and could potentially gain class-action status. The district says it intends to fight for and win its defense.

By Electronista Staff