Webcams on Laptops Used to Spy on Students

If you have a laptop with a webcam and a microphone, and if software is installed without your knowledge, who knows who may be monitoring you?  I would imagine that school districts spying on students at home would be one of the more benign applications.

Student Blake Robbins and his parents filed the electronic-privacy suit came after an assistant principal at Harriton High School told him the camera had caught him doing something inappropriate at home. Michael Robbins, his father, confirmed with the educator that the school could activate the webcams remotely, the lawsuit said.

The security feature allows district personnel to remotely activate the webcam and take a picture of the user and the computer screen. That information can then be used to track down a laptop that has been reported stolen or missing.

I figure that a capability most likely exists to install such software remotely over the internet, when required.

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