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School district spying on kids at home

Started by Rico, February 22, 2010, 10:06:48 AM

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Rico

Again, the thing I'm most happy about is unless some school district is living under a rock I really doubt they will be trying something like this again anytime soon.  And that's a very good thing.

billybob476

Unfortunately I'm certain there are many school districts living under rocks.

QuadShot

Quote from: billybob476 on August 19, 2010, 10:11:43 AM
Unfortunately I'm certain there are many school districts living under rocks.
Like in Arkansas...get it? Little ROCK...:P HAHAHAHAHAH

X

Quote from: Rico on August 19, 2010, 09:51:09 AM
Again, the thing I'm most happy about is unless some school district is living under a rock I really doubt they will be trying something like this again anytime soon.  And that's a very good thing.
I totally agree with this. We might not agree on the underlying issues, but we both can agree that we hope some changes come down from this and stick. BTW My wife totally agrees with your side of the debate Rico. I'm just stubborn. I try to assume the best of people unless there is proof that they behaved wrong.

I also tend to follow the path of no harm no foul. I hate lawsuits for the sake of making money. I've backed out of several Class actions that I could have been a part of because I saw no intent to harm me. I didn't sue my ex-wife's quack of a doc who failed to notice she was having twins that we later lost. I like to think that humans make mistakes and as much as much as we want those mistakes to not affect us, we don't have that luxury.

I see the civil suits less punishment to the school, but punishments to the students who will suffer from any loss of funds.

Jobydrone

Just the preliminary costs to the students and taxpayers of Lower Merion School District:

Lower Merion School District ordered to pay plaintiff's lawyer $260,000
By John P. Martin

Inquirer Staff Writer

A federal judge Monday ordered the Lower Merion School District to pay about $260,000 now - and potentially much more later - to the lawyer who brought the lawsuit over the district's webcam monitoring.

In a 14-page opinion, Senior U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois said Mark S. Haltzman deserved to be paid for work that led to a preliminary injunction against the district in May. And he said Haltzman could submit the rest of his bills when the case ended.

The injunction banned Lower Merion school employees from activating webcams on students' district-issued laptops without their consent and required new policies governing the use of technology.

A spokesman for Lower Merion said school officials were "deeply disappointed" in the decision. Haltzman called the ruling fair and appropriate.

The order seemed to end a bitter skirmish over fees in an ongoing legal saga that could cost district taxpayers several million dollars. Each side pledged Monday to continue working toward a settlement, but each also slammed the other.

Still unresolved is the underlying lawsuit Haltzman filed for Harriton High School student Blake Robbins and his parents, claiming Lower Merion staff members spied on students through the webcams. The district contends it activated the software only when laptops were lost or missing.

Haltzman had asked that Lower Merion pay him more than $435,000 in fees and expenses that he said he and his firm, Lamm Rubenstone L.L.C., incurred through July investigating Robbins' claims and initiating a proposed class-action lawsuit. In class-action cases, plaintiffs' legal fees usually become part of a settlement.

Lawyers for the school district countered in court papers that Haltzman's bills were excessive and lacked detail. In a 46-page filing Aug. 12, they scrutinized his request, questioning items such as $87,000 for a computer consultant, $4,800 to videotape depositions, and $15,000 he said he spent preparing the motion asking to be paid.

Lower Merion's lawyers also challenged his motives, arguing that most of the work was designed to win money for the Robbinses, not to protect the district's students.

The judge brushed aside nearly all of those arguments. He noted that neither side took issue with Haltzman's $425 hourly fee, and concluded that much of the other costs he had submitted were reasonable expenses to investigate the claims and seek a broad injunction.

He did, however, find that Haltzman's costs for preparing his fee motion were a bit too steep. He sliced the $15,000 down to $10,000.

The judge also said Haltzman at this point is entitled to collect only fees and expenses incurred up to the May 14 injunction, and cannot submit the rest of his bills until DuBois enters a final injunction.

The order did not include a bottom-line figure, but it instructed the sides to agree on a sum. Haltzman said that should be about $260,000.

In a statement, a spokesman for the school district said officials believed the judge "gave only fleeting consideration" to their arguments and repeated that Haltzman did not deserve to be paid.

"We believe that the Robbinses' attorney has protracted this matter, increasing costs to taxpayers," said the statement from spokesman Doug Young.

Haltzman said DuBois' order validated the "valuable service" his firm provided and repudiated the district's case against him.

"They went after us and everybody and used it as a shot to attack us," Haltzman said. "And at the end of the day, not a single one of their arguments was bought by the court."


"I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal."  -Groucho Marx

Rico


Rico

So, final tally at a $610,000 payout.  :)



A Pennsylvania school district accused of remotely activating webcams on school-issued laptops has reached a settlement with two students who sued the district over the breach.

The Lower Merion School District will pay a total of $610,000 to settle cases filed by students Blake Robbins and Jalil Hassan. The move comes after the district's insurance carrier, Graphic Arts, agreed to cover more than $1.2 million in fees and costs associated with the litigation.

At issue are school-issued Mac laptops provided to 2,300 students at Harriton High School. Unbeknownst to those students and their parents, the laptops were equipped with tracking software that could remotely activate the computer's webcam to take photos of the user, as well as capture screen shots. It was intended as a means to locate lost or stolen laptops, but was apparently activated in more questionable circumstances as well.

The tracking software came to light when Robbins, a student at the high school, was allegedly called into the assistant principal's office and accused of taking drugs. The evidence was reportedly screen shots of Robbins from the school-issued laptop that appeared to show him taking pills. Robbins said he was actually eating candy.

His parents filed suit against the school district in February. Several months later, Hassan was informed that the software on his computer had also been activated, capturing 469 pictures from the webcam and 543 screen shots over the course of several months. Since he was 18, Hassan then filed his own lawsuit.

The $610,000 deal includes $10,000 for Hassan and a $175,000 payout that will be placed in a trust for Robbins. The district will also pay $425,000 in legal fees.

"We believe this settlement enables us to move forward in a way that is most sensitive to our students, taxpayers and the entire school district community," board president David Ebby said in a statement.

In late August, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced that it would not bring criminal charges against the district. No one involved in the case had criminal intent, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger said at the time.

"That was an important moment for us; it confirmed the results of an independent investigation and the District's own initial findings," Ebby said Monday.

The school district has since apologized and admitted that it should have informed students and parents about the software. An updated school policy now requires the district to get a student's permission before activating the monitoring software.

The district chose to settle because a trial would have been costly and distracting, Ebby wrote. The district also "wanted to be sensitive to the welfare of the student involved in the case," though he went on to essentially say that the lawsuits have been a major waste of taxpayer dollars.

"I want you to know that had concerns about privacy been brought to the Board without legal action, they would have been addressed effectively and immediately as well, without additional costs to taxpayers," Ebby said.


story:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370622,00.asp

KingIsaacLinksr

Good to hear they fessed up.  You do not do shady deals with privacy, not even the school districts.  Not warning anyone about that "feature" was wrong and stupid.  I hope they realize this for future ideas. 

This is justice served.  But it also means I will never trust any computer given to me from a school.  I'll buy my own technology, thanks

King
A Paladin Without A Crusade Blog... www.kingisaaclinksr.wordpress.com
My Review of Treks In Sci-Fi Podcast: http://wp.me/pQq2J-zs
Let's Play: Videogames YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/kingisaaclinksr

X

Isn't it funny how the lawyer gets magnitudes more money from this than the people involved?

Rico

Quote from: X on October 12, 2010, 04:22:46 PM
Isn't it funny how the lawyer gets magnitudes more money from this than the people involved?

Yep - pretty sad about that.

Feathers

Not unnusual that the lawyers get the payout :( How much education will be cut in order to pay for it?

I know it's unnusual here but I don't have a podcast of my own.

Rico

Quote from: Feathers on October 14, 2010, 01:46:47 PM
Not unnusual that the lawyers get the payout :( How much education will be cut in order to pay for it?

If you see the article above, the school district insurance is picking up the tab.

KingIsaacLinksr

Now that I'm reading this again, I truly wish those involved, IE: the administration were fired over this.  But they won't be...

King
A Paladin Without A Crusade Blog... www.kingisaaclinksr.wordpress.com
My Review of Treks In Sci-Fi Podcast: http://wp.me/pQq2J-zs
Let's Play: Videogames YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/kingisaaclinksr

Feathers

Quote from: Rico on October 14, 2010, 02:17:03 PM
Quote from: Feathers on October 14, 2010, 01:46:47 PM
Not unnusual that the lawyers get the payout :( How much education will be cut in order to pay for it?

If you see the article above, the school district insurance is picking up the tab.

Fees and costs, yes. It wasn't clear that they were covering everything though.

I know it's unnusual here but I don't have a podcast of my own.

Rico

Quote from: Feathers on October 14, 2010, 11:37:21 PM
Quote from: Rico on October 14, 2010, 02:17:03 PM
Quote from: Feathers on October 14, 2010, 01:46:47 PM
Not unnusual that the lawyers get the payout :( How much education will be cut in order to pay for it?

If you see the article above, the school district insurance is picking up the tab.

Fees and costs, yes. It wasn't clear that they were covering everything though.

I think it was pretty clear.  The insurance is paying out $1.2 million.  Covering both sides legal fees and the fines.  Only half of it is needed to go to those that brought the case against the district.  The rest must be to pay their own sides legal fees.  School districts have to have pretty hefty insurance policies.  For example, any kid hurt during school, bus accidents, etc. can turn into huge payouts.  And of course silly people giving out laptops and snapping pics of kids in their homes can cost them too!  ;)