The plot is thickening in the Lower Merion spycam case. A new motion filed late last week by a student’s parents contends the Pennsylvania school district captured thousands of images of students without their knowledge via software on their school-supplied laptops.
When the case broke in the winter, school officials said only a handful of images had been taken, and only in response to reports of stolen laptops. But the new motion also mentions that web-site visits and online chats were monitored.
‘Like a Little Soap Opera’
In February, the family of teenager Blake Robbins filed suit against the school district for invasion of privacy, theft of private information, and “unlawful interaction and access” to electronic communication without his or his family’s knowledge or authorization.
The Robbins family said it first learned of the remote-monitoring capability on Nov. 11, when an assistant principal at one of the district’s two high schools told Blake that he was “engaged in improper behavior in his home,” according to the original lawsuit, and the evidence was a photograph from the webcam in his laptop. As alleged in the suit, the father then verified with the assistant principal that the district can remotely activate and view through the webcam of the son’s laptop — a surveillance capability unknown to the family or other families.
The motion indicates that, following a court order requiring that photos be preserved as evidence, the family discovered that more than 400 photos of Robbins had been taken surreptitiously, as well as “thousands” of other students.
The motion also indicates that the collection of photos, instant messages, and web visits were viewed by the IT and administrative staff as entertainment. One e-mail cited called the collection of images “like a little soap opera,” and information coordinator Carol Cafiero is said to have responded, “I…