Pennsylvania School Accused of Issuing Webcam Laptops to Spy on Students

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

Lapin wrote:

...There are schools that give out free laptops? What the fuck, what kind of district are these kids living in?

These laptops are probably so old they come from a time when laptops didn't actually exist.

This is actually the richest school district in Pennsylvania, which says something.

They were Macs IIRC

Nihilist wrote:

And this, my friends, is why it's good to learn the underpinnings of your computer and operating system, so you can easily turn the webcam hardware off. Companies bank on 95% of computer users being too afraid of their investments, and not knowledgeable enough to know what's bullshit and what's not. It's going to need an internet connection to connect to the schools' server, and if there's a program doing the reporting, simple. Download a firewall that didn't come with the laptop to block the program. Or find it and uninstall.

But that's expecting a bit too much from a typical userbase, isn't it. Showing knowledge so that a computer company bends to your needs, not the other way around.

Yeah, I don't think I would blame this on the ignorance of the people using the computer AT ALL. The intention of the webcams/software were pretty solid: they were used as a anti-theft device to be remotely activated to take a picture of the thief while they used the computer. The abuse didn't happen because the people using them were ignorant of how to use computah, it was because they assumed that authority figures couldn't be such huge psychotic dicks. All the parents apparently signed a waiver saying: "Yes, I understand that it comes with this software used to prevent theft ect.ect" with nothing that indicated the webcams would be used except after it had been reported stolen.

There's a public school district that gives out free Macs?! Do you know what I could sell that for, then claim was stolen?! What a stupid school district!

Mafiosa wrote:

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

Lapin wrote:

...There are schools that give out free laptops? What the fuck, what kind of district are these kids living in?

These laptops are probably so old they come from a time when laptops didn't actually exist.

This is actually the richest school district in Pennsylvania, which says something.

They were Macs IIRC

So...

They wanted to see the schoolchildren suffer AND waste a lot of money? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]