Lower Merion student learns his school-issued MacBook took 8K+ images of him and his screen

The FBI agents investigating the use of covert webcam-activation software in student laptops in Pennsylvania's affluent Lower Merion School District have alerted a student that they've uncovered 4,404 webcam photographs and 3,978 screenshots taken without his knowledge from his school-issued laptop. The student describes himself as "shocked, humiliated and severely emotionally distressed," and has filed a federal invasion of privacy suit seeking unspecified damages.
As part of an FBI investigation and a lawsuit brought by a different student, a judge had contacted the boy's parents informing him of the breach, and invited them to view the pictures. The youth's parents were shown 4,404 webcam photographs and 3,978 screenshots captured with the Lower Merion School District-issued MacBook.

The amount of photos represents the largest publicly known number of images secretly recorded in the webcam scandal.

School Webcam Spy Scandal Resurfaces (Thanks, Marilyn!)

show full bio

Cory Doctorow

Jun 1, Sydney Vivid
Jul 14, London EFF Speakeasy
Jun 18, Dublin Internet Freedom
Context (essays)
With a Little Help (short stories)
For the Win (YA novel)
Makers (adult novel)

Where not otherwise specified, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Boing Boing is a trademark of Happy Mutants LLC in the United States and other countries.