How bad is THIS?

Picture this: a "benevolent" and wealthy school system hands out laptops to its students. Then one day an administrator gives a student a discipline for an infraction that took place...in the home. A class action lawsuit was filed recently on behalf of the students of the school who believe that the school has been remotely spying on them through the webcams. Although we try not to repeat stories that are posted on Drudge, this one is too important. This is another example of Big Brother/the Nanny state watching over citizens. They will lose in court, but the fact that they felt comfortable doing this is appalling.

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.