Lower Merion School District, located in a suburb of Philadelphia, was under fire back in February when it was discovered that school-issued MacBook computers, intended for students’ home use, were clandestinely snapping photographs through the computers’ built-in webcam.
Despite students being photographed partially nude, asleep, or about their home, administrators will not be prosecuted, on account of a lack of evidence that the school had criminal intent. Without an overwhelming amount of evidence proving the administrators had criminal intent, they cannot be prosecuted by Federal authorities said US Attorney Zane David Memeger in a statement earlier this week.
However, according to EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, this is not the end of the Lower Merion School District’s legal troubles.
“Even though the criminal charges are not going to be pursued by Federal authorities, there are still several civil claims against the school officials that I think will be pursued,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC. “The best indication that the school has done something wrong is that they have discontinued the webcam tracking security feature. I think everyone recognizes that means there was a problem.”
Rotenberg added he believes these civil claims will likely end in settlements.