Judge Bans Webcam Spying On Philly Students

A judge has permanently banned a suburban Philadelphia school district from secretly monitoring students with webcams on their school-issued laptops.

U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois' ruling Friday was similar to a temporary injunction the judge imposed in February after a student sued the district over privacy concerns. The Lower Merion School District acknowledged capturing 56,000 screen shots and webcam images so it could locate missing laptops.

The new ruling says Lower Merion can use other kinds of technology to find laptops but only if parents and students agree to it. The order requires school officials to arrange for the nearly 40 high school students who were unknowingly photographed to see the images, as well as their parents.