CYBER CRIME:
Harrington High School Hidden
Webcam Surveillance
Presentation By:
Team in the Front
Jeremy Brugger
Jim Klein
Anthony Knollhoff
Sam Reinhardt
Diane Torneire
OVERVIEW:
I. Applicable Issues, Technology and
Laws
II. Issues Enabling Hidden Surveillance
III. Recorded Penalties for Illegal
Surveillance
IV. Implications for Managers in the IT
World.
APPLICABLE ISSUES,
TECHNOLOGY & LAWS
Issues, Technology & Laws
 ISSUES
 Nationally ranked Harrington High School in
Philadelphia administered laptops to their 2300
students, but then monitored them in their homes
via webcam without alerting them or the parents
that they would be doing so. – February, 2010
 A civil action lawsuit was filed against Lower
Merion School District. (Blake J Robbins v.
Lower Merion School District)
RIGHT: Plaintiff, Blake Robbins
holds his school-issued laptop.
Issues, Technology & Laws
 ISSUES cont…
 School claims that the webcams were strictly a
security feature used to track stolen laptops and
that the feature has since been disabled.
 School admitted that they did not notify parents
or students about the webcam “security” feature
and reportedly regretted the
decision not to do so. – 2/19/10
 School District’s IS coordinator
declined to testify, citing 5th
Amendment – April 9, 2010
LEFT: Lindy Matsko, assistant vice principal, denies
authorizing the Webcam to spy on students.
Issues, Technology & Laws
 ISSUES cont…
 The case is currently
ongoing in the U.S.
District Court system
(Eastern District of
Pennslyvania)
 Deep pockets? - Lower Merion’s per capita
income is #5 in the nation for those with a
population over 50,000
Issues, Technology & Laws
 TECHNOLOGY
 Laptop webcams – cameras attached to computers that
have the ability to transmit photos and video.
 Remote operation – use of radio or wire technology to
control the operation of equipment from a distance or
remote location
 Security censors – systems with controls that activate
when property is stolen or compromised.
Issues, Technology & Laws
 LAWS
 Exact violations & their application to this case
have not been fully disclosed.
 Currently under consideration in the U.S. District Court system.
 The following laws have identified as those that
have been potentially violated by the School
District:
1. 4th Amendment of U.S. Constitution –
Right to Privacy – protects citizens
from unlawful searches
1. Civil Rights Act – Section 1983 – guards
citizens against anti-constitutional activity by State or
Federal Authority (in this case, the school district)
Issues, Technology & Laws
 LAWS cont…
 Potential Violations cont…
3. Electronic Communication Privacy Act- protects
citizen’s electronic communication during transfer
4. Stored Communications Act – protects
information stored online
5. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act – protects citizens
from intentional unlawful computer access
6. Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic
Surveillance Act – protects against unlawful
computer surveillance
7. Pennsylvania common law
ISSUES ENABLING HIDDEN
SURVEILLANCE
Enabling Issues
 Seemingly Just Cause for Implementation
 Webcam monitor would allow
the school to track stolen
computers
 Once implemented, provided
an easy, concealed method to
track student behavior
 National existence of school faculty misconduct
 In their 2002 survey on 2064 students in 8th through 11th grade, the
American Association of University Women (AAUW) reported 38%
of the students were harassed by teachers or school employees.
Enabling Issues
cont…
 Misleading information regarding monitor
 Parents signed an agreement that noted the
school's ability to remotely "monitor hardware"
but did not go into any detail about the Webcam
and how it could be used to watch families
 Students were not aware of the school’s ability to
monitor their behavior at home
 School justified its behavior.
RECORDED PENALTIES FOR
ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE
Recorded Penalties
 PAST PRESIDENCE
 First of its kind in terms of a school spying on its
students.
 Problem occurs with the fact this is an ongoing
investigation, so no outcome yet.
 Could lead to new federal laws against the use of
spying technology
Recorded Penalties
cont…
 LAWSUITS FOR GENERAL SPYING
 ACLU v. NSA(2006)
http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-sues-stop-illegal-spying-americans-saying-president-not-above-law
 Filed to stop Bush Administration’s secret surveillance program





put in place shortly after 9/11
NSA was data mining regular people’s emails, chats and phone
calls
They also felt that Bush out-stepped his boundary by signing this
program into law without a required court order
Lawsuit claimed that 1st and 4th amendments were violated
ACLU won initial suit in 2006 and Judge agreed that Bush
overstepped his boundaries
This was later appealed and is still in further litigation but this
was a big victory for those afraid of being illegally recorded
Recorded Penalties
cont…
 LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS
 According to Eye Spy Video recording service
“unless you are in law enforcement with a valid
COURT ORDER, monitoring or recording private
conversations of is generally considered
eavesdropping or wiretapping”
 In order to avoid this signs have to be posted or an
audio messages stating this conversation may be
recorded for quality assurances

http://www.eyespyvideo.com/Legal-Issues-Considerations.html
Recorded Penalties
cont…
Pennsylvania's Wiretapping & Electronic
Surveillance Control Act, (18 Pa. C.S. § 5701, et seq)
 States that in general electronic surveillance is illegal
 Includes interception(recording), oral and wire
communications
 Two types of consent when it comes to surveillance: “One
Party Consent” & “Two/All Party Consent”
 Pennsylvania falls into the latter, more restrictive category
 Since the children/parents had no clue they were being
recorded, this would appear to be an illegal surveillance
 The federal statute (18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq) requires one party consent
but allows states to be more restrictive

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/crime.aspx?id=199
Recorded Penalties
cont…
 Response To School Surveillance By U.S. Congress
 On April 15, 2010 Bill S.3214 was submitted by Senators
Feingold, Specter and Kaufman urging the prohibition of
video surveillance except those authorized under chapter
119 of title 18, United States Code or Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act of 1978
 This was a direct response to Lower Merion’s video
surveillance of their students
 Since technically Merion did not break any federal law,
though they may have broken Pennsylvania’s law on
surveillance, this is being introduced to get illegal video
surveillance added to any previous laws against this
Recorded Penalties
cont…
 Response To School Surveillance By U.S.
Congress cont…
 They cite in their argument U.S. v. Torres (1984) that,
“Electronic interception, being by nature a continuing
rather than one-shot invasion, is even less
discriminating than a physical search, because it picks
up private conversations (most of which will usually
have nothing to do with any illegal activity) over a long
period of time. . . . [E]lectronic interception is thought
to pose a greater potential threat to personal privacy
than physical searches. . . . Television surveillance is
identical in its indiscriminate character to wiretapping
and bugging .“
IMPLICATIONS TO MANAGERS IN
THE IT WORLD
IT Application
 Information technology is very powerful, so managers
need to understand the legal implications to avoid issues
similar to this one
 Managers may need to monitor employees' use of the
company's technology, but must also be sensitive to
the laws that protect individual privacy & rights
Managers need to clearly
define the allowed corporate
& personal uses of its
property & technology to
avoid misunderstanding
IT Application
Cont…
 Along with defining the allowed uses, managers
must also strictly enforce the 'terms of use' if they
are infringed upon. Even if this means admitting
wrong-doing
 Managers need to foster transparency to reassure
employees that a system of checks and balances
exists so they can rest assured that their best
interests are taken into account
Conclusion
 This case brings to light several legal & ethical issues
that any IT user may encounter; especially
managers. A take-away from this investigation is
that although technology has many capabilities,
users do not always have the right to use them to
the fullest; even when the users are in an
authoritative position.
References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriton_High_School

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_J._Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School_Di
strict

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Merion_Township,_PA

http://dataprivacy.foxrothschild.com/2010/02/articles/right-toprivacy/pennsylvania-school-district-sued-after-allegedly-remotelyactivating-student-laptop-webcam/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_harassment_in_education

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/crime.aspx?id=199

http://www.eyespyvideo.com/Legal-Issues-Considerations.html

http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-sues-stop-illegal-spyingamericans-saying-president-not-above-law