Big Brother – wait, I mean, the principal – is watching you.

This gave us pause this afternoon – we read a very scary story at boingboing (a science and technology blog) about a Pennsylvania school that has installed webcams on students’ computers to spy on them at home and at school.

From the blog:

“According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.”

This is such a grievous privacy violation that it seems almost satirical – this sort of story belongs in a sci-fi film, not in modern day America.

See the actual legal complaint here.