Saturday, February 20, 2010

What Kids should Know About That School Computer « Steve Wildstrom on Tech

Isn’t that capability bundled with modern webcam-equipped Macs?  I’ve read about other people recovering lost Macs by remote-controlling the camera.

The flap over Lower Merion, Pa., school officials allegedly spying on students through Webcams on school-supplied MacBooks raises an interesting and important question: Just what expectation of privacy do students have when using school-owned computers? The likeliest answer is not much.

Using cameras to observe students unawares is definitely unethical and probably illegal, though we may have to wait for a court to decide that. School officials say that the capability, now disabled, was only used to track lost or stolen laptops.Taking their claim at face value, there’s still a huge difference between what is permitted and what is possible, and the students using these computers need to be aware of both.

What Kids should Know About That School Computer « Steve Wildstrom on Tech

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