Intellectual Property Law

Feds Say Judge Hampering Webcam Spy Probe

By David Kravets

Prosecutors are claiming that a federal judge is hampering a criminal investigation into a webcam scandal at a Philadelphia suburban school district.

The evidence prosecutors are seeking is connected to a federal civil lawsuit in which the plaintiff’s lawyers claim that the Lower Merion School District secretly snapped thousands of webcam images of students using school-issued laptops without the pupils’ knowledge or consent.

U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois, who is presiding over the civil case, two weeks ago ordered that evidence should only be disseminated to those connected to the civil lawsuit. (.pdf) U.S. Attorney Michael Levy wrote the judge, saying Friday that her freeze order “interfered with the government’s obligation to investigate possible criminal conduct occurring within this district.”

Levy asks the court to “modify its order to permit the government access.” (.pdf) Among other things, Levy wants to examine what plaintiffs lawyers contend are thousands of screenshots school-supplied MacBooks took of an unknown number of children, some of which might include nude or partially clothed shots.

While it remains unclear whether the secret and remote filming of students is a federal crime, taking nude images of children is likely criminal conduct. A federal grand jury and the FBI are said to be looking into the district’s actions.

The lawsuit accuses a district IT admin of downloading “pictures of students who were naked while in their home” ?- allegations the woman staunchly denies. (.pdf)

When the story broke in February, the district said the cameras were activated a handful of times when a laptop was reported stolen or missing — an assertion lawyers suing the district say is false. The district has deactivated the webcam-tracking program secretly lodged on 2,300 student laptops.

The 6,900-pupil district, which provides students from its two high schools free MacBooks, was sued in federal court in February on allegations that it was undertaking a dragnet surveillance program targeting its students.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was based on a claim by sophomore Blake Robbins that school officials reprimanded him for “improper behavior” based on photos the computer secretly took of the boy at home last fall. Another picture shows him asleep at home in October.

That “behavior” turned out to be pill-popping. The family said their son was eating Mike and Ike candy.

See Also:

• April 13, 1953: CIA OKs MK-ULTRA Mind-Control Tests
• April 14, 1996: JenniCam Starts Lifecasting
• Google Talks Transparency, But Hides Surveillance Stats
• Teen Kills Self on Justin.tv ? Update
• Fed Blotter: New Charges Filed Against Alleged Cyber Peeping Tom
• U.S. Military Contractor Allegedly Hacked Teens

Full post as published by Threat Level on April 26, 2010 (boomark / email).