CYBER CRIME: Harrington High School Hidden Webcam Surveillance

Presentation By:

Team in the FrontJeremy Brugger

Jim KleinAnthony KnollhoffSam ReinhardtDiane 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 – guardscitizens 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

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 .“

Recorded Penalties cont…

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 toavoid 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_District http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Merion_Township,_PA http://dataprivacy.foxrothschild.com/2010/02/articles/right-to-

privacy/pennsylvania-school-district-sued-after-allegedly-remotely-activating-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-

spying-americans-saying-president-not-above-law