SPYCAM: Long Philly Inquirer Summary Article

[PCIntern]

Don't get me started...



http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20100321_How_a_lawsuit_over_school_laptops_evolved.html?page=1&c=y

[TorchTheWitch]

1. Well, this is interesting....

Joseph Daly, who retired in 2009 as Lower Merion police superintendent, said he never knew that his department was being furnished with pictures snapped from students' laptops.

"God, no, I don't remember that," he said when told about it. "That's illegal as hell."

Even if no laws were in fact broken, Daly said, it's still a terrible idea.

"A better plan would be: If you lose it, guess what - you owe the school a new computer," said Daly, now police chief in Springfield, Delaware County.


Interesting also that the company that bought out LANRev stopped the use of the webcam shots since they couldn't be used in court and they didn't make sense as a tracking mechanism (and probably also because it's illegal). What the hell was the point to having that feature since a) it doesn't tell you where the laptop is, and b) it can't be used in court anyway? There IS no point to it other than voyerism.


And in the Robbins' case it's clear they didn't use it to find a stolen or missing laptop, they used it to SPY - to catch the kid taking home a loaner computer.


Ugh.

[old mark]

2. I have been saying this from the beginning. I worked for a state agency in PA

that wanted to monitor ALL PHONE CALLS from an entire hospital, the rationalle being so they could punish lower level employees using the phone for personal calls. I pointed out to them they would need several full time employees fot 3 shifts just to listen to all the phone messages, plus recording equipment, etc, (Not to mention I thought they were crazy) and they decided instead to install video/audio surveillance cameras through out the hospital supposedly for "safety" but actually to watch the staff.
Agencies LOVE this sort of thing, for whatever real reason - it gives them a feeling of power and control, and in this case lets them peek into kids bedrooms.


mark

[Neurotica]

3. A well-written article that lays out the unintended consequences of poor

policy-/decision-making. The school district never thought things through and this mess is the result.

[Maat]

4. I'm going to hold my tongue, too.

Some of us knew how wrong this was from the beginning, and knew what had happened. It had to have happened that way, given people's nature.

Hopefully, people have been informed about their rights now, and this won't ever happen again.

[Maat]

5. O.K. ... we should be hearing the ...

"I was wrong, and you guys were right"'s any minute now.;)