From the little I know of the case and a bit of common sense, I find
this case pretty cut and dried. If the computer was stolen, the school had the
right to track it. If it wasn't and the school only wanted $55 for insurance
not paid, they had every right to track it if they knew who had it and who
hadn't paid. But they had no right to invade that persons privacy. We have laws
against that even for credit card companies calling a person at work and in
other bothersome ways. We're in no brainer territory here.
If someone steals my computer (and I can figure out how to do this) I'd
invade their privacy to find it. But I'm not going to give one to the neighbor
and then use the ability to see if he's shagging my wife (if I had one).
Jeff Miles
[email protected]
Join my Mafia
http://apps.facebook.com/inthemafia/status_invite.php?from=550968726
On Mar 6, 2010, at 6:50 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 8:05 PM, Tony B <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> What victim? What crime? Some of you are getting ahead of yourselves.
>> There are no "victims", and nobody has been charged with a crime. By
>> your own admissions, the worst that happened here is that somebody in
>> the school district failed to make it more clear that monitoring would
>> be taking place. Fine, but that's no crime.
>
> The school system has already admitted that they failed to notify
> anyone outside of the school system, other than local police, that
> they were employing any sort of monitoring by way of webcams. They
> didn't even tell the students who were using the computers. That goes
> well beyond your suggestion that the worst that happened was that the
> school district failed to make the monitoring "more clear." They
> essentially didn't tell anybody anything.
>
> What we have here is the use of technology in a aberrant, possibly
> abusive and perhaps illegal fashion. Parents who have failed to pony
> up a $55.00 insurance fee on a piece of equipment that has been
> foisted upon their child for school work should not be subjected to
> surveillance of their dwelling as a result. That kid had been taking
> the computer back and forth to and from school daily, and just because
> that fee had not been paid and the student was therefore not supposed
> to be taking the computer off school property, that was no reason to
> delve into knee-jerk surreptitious spying. Call the parents and ask,
> "Does Blake have his computer? He does? Well, that's good. Listen,
> I just need to remind you that his insurance fee for that computer is
> past due, and it would be best were that to be paid as soon as
> possible, okay? Thank you. Goodbye." However, and as it is said, if
> the technology is available, IT WILL BE USED. If not, how else does
> one justify its cost and existence?
>
> See what happens when technology takes the place of human contact?
> How do you like those robotic phone calls? Automated telephone
> response systems with their endless menus and then you get cut off
> anyway?
>
> For what it is worth, the school system has put the two tech workers
> involved on paid leave. For what? For simply doing their job and
> following orders? The school system claims to have ceased all webcam
> surveillance after orders to do so as issued by a Federal judge.
> Apparently the judge thinks something illegal may have been taking
> place. The company that makes the tracking software has removed the
> camera activation feature from all future releases of its product.
> Looks like a fair amount of activity fueled by retrospect is taking
> place on various fronts.
>
> Steve
>
>
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