I’ll be honest – I’ve been struggling for weeks to come up with my next blog topic. Maybe it’s been writer’s block, or maybe it’s been…uh…ya’know…some…other…thing… Ok, clearly it’s been writer’s block.
Anyway, that’s why the highlight of my weekend was watching the news!
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania had gotten itself in some trouble for using the webcams on school-issued laptops to take pictures of students without the students or their parents knowing. Mercifully, there have been some new developments in the case, and that has given me something to write about.
Size of the Iceberg
We’re now starting to get a better picture of how much the laptop webcams were used.
You might remember that the district initially stated that the webcams had been activated on “at least 42 occasions.”
Here’s an excerpt from a motion filed last week by Blake Robbins’ parents:
“Since the filing of the lawsuit, it is now known, as to Blake Robbins:
(a) Blake Robbins’ laptop was neither lost nor stolen;
(b) the “peeping tom” spying technology was activated for a fifteen day period between October 20th and November 4th, 2009;
(c) over 400 screen shots and webcam pictures were taken using the LanRev “peeping tom” technology;
(d) most of the screen shots and webcam pictures were taken while Blake Robbins’ computer was in his home;
(e) there were numerous screen shots of private IM communication between Blake and his friends;
(f) there were numerous webcam pictures of Blake and other members of his family, including pictures of Blake partially undressed and of Blake sleeping; and
(g) there are additional webcam pictures and screen shots taken of Blake Robbins which, to date, have not been recovered because the evidence was purged by the IT department.”
Later, in the same motion:
“In addition, discovery to date has now revealed that thousands of webcam pictures and screen shots have been taken of numerous other students in their homes, many of which never reported their laptops lost or missing…”
In a story posted on Philly.com Monday, the district has stated that the webcams were activated at least 80 times and that the total number of images captured is around 56,000.
So, for those of you keeping score, we’ve gone from 42 activations to 80, and we’ve gone from an unstated number of images to 56,000. That’s a big jump, and that’s a lot of images.
Picture of Blake Robbins sleeping, taken by his laptop webcam – CREEPY!!!
What They Knew and When They Knew It
On Lower Merion School District’s website, Carol Cafiero’s job title is listed as “Information Systems Coordinator.” She’s actually listed third from the top underneath George Frazier, Director of Information Systems, and Jason Hilt, Supervisor of Instructional Technology. Apparently, she’s not very excited about participating in the current investigations involving her employer.
Ms. Cafiero was subpoenaed to appear for a deposition, but back in March, she asked the court to excuse her from appearing. The court rejected her request and ordered her to appear, however, at her deposition, Ms. Cafiero refused to answer any questions invoking her Fifth Amendment right.
The motion filed last week contains this tantalizing statement…
“First, Carol Cafiero, unlike any of the witnesses asked to testify, invokes the Fifth Amendment to every question asked of her, including a question asked as to whether she had ever download[ed] pictures to her own personal computer, including pictures of students who were naked while in their home.”
…and this one…
“Second, emails suggest that Carol Cafiero may be a voyeur. For instance, in one email, when one IT person commented on how the viewing of the webcam pictures and screen shots from a student’s computer was like ‘a little LMSD soap opera’, Cafiero responded ‘I know, I love it!’”
The plaintiff’s attorney is now asking the court to fine Ms. Cafiero $2,500 (for refusing to answer deposition questions) and to compel her to turn over any personal computers for examination.
What might an examination of Ms. Cafiero’s computers reveal?
Did Ms. Cafiero’s superiors know that the webcams were being used? Did the school board know?
How many people had access to the images, and is it possible any of those people made unauthorized copies?
Have the roughly 56,000 images collected by the district been thoroughly reviewed and what do they contain?
What are the chances that criminal charges will eventually be filed against someone (Ms. Cafiero’s attorney apparently thinks so)?
I don’t know the answer to ANY of these questions, but I can’t wait to find out. And, we shouldn’t have long to wait – Ms. Cafiero had until today (4/20/2010) to respond to this most recent motion.
It seems this case may not quietly drop from the headlines as I previously predicted.
Disclaimer
To my wife and kids:
If you’re reading this, I was just kidding about the news being the highlight of my weekend. I really REALLY enjoyed going to the park. It was definitely the highlight of my weekend…I swear…and I didn’t mind missing the hockey playoffs one bit.