Laptop Privacy Scandal Has Tulsa School Reviewing Policy

By Tara Vreeland, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- A Pennsylvania principal is at the center of a privacy scandal. Parents say the school used webcams to spy on kids at home.

A student says his principal activated the camera on his school-issued laptop then confronted him about "inappropriate behavior" when he came to school the next day.

The principal denies the allegations saying web cams were only activated to find lost or stolen computers.

The case has one local school taking a closer look at its technology policy.

"You do have to start rethinking as we learn what technology is capable of doing and all of the wonderful things that we can do with it," said Edana Brook, public relations director for Monte Cassino.

"But there's always someone who is going to find something negative, and turn it into a negative."

The most recent negative is the alleged misuse of a school-issued laptop webcam. Reports say the assistant principal mistakenly thought a student was using drugs when he was really eating candy.

"I guess it's hard for me to understand where the thinking of turning on a webcam to watch students," said Nancy Stutsman, Monte Cassino director of technology.

The lawsuit claims that the school district remotely activated webcams to find lost or stolen laptops - but never did so to spy on the students.

School officials at Tulsa's Monte Cassino say they issue more than 300 laptops to students. Seventy of those computers have webcams.

But the school says their students and parents have nothing to worry about. They say they do not have the ability to turn on the webcams when the student has the laptop at home.

"We cannot," Stutsman said. "All we can do is monitor their Internet use."

Each year, students and parents must read and sign an agreement regarding the tablet PC's rules and regulations. The agreement outlines appropriate use - and what not to do.

Some of the descriptions are vague, such as "invading the privacy of other individuals." The school says they will review the policy.

"Turning on a camera and watching what's happening in their home life is not going to happen. It's just unethical. It's inappropriate," said PR Director Edana Brook.

If parents or students are worried about someone remotely accessing the webcam, the solution is to simply cover the eye of the camera.