APNewsBreak: Official says FBI probing Pa. district accused of spying on students via webcams

Official tells AP: FBI probing Pa. webcam case

PHILADELPHIA — A law-enforcement official with knowledge of the case says the FBI has opened a criminal investigation into a Pennsylvania school district accused of activating webcams inside students’ homes without their knowledge.

The official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, says the FBI will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws.

Lower Merion officials say they remotely activated webcams 42 times to find missing student laptops in the past 14 months, but never did so to spy on students, as a recent lawsuit claims.

The Montgomery County district attorney also is gathering information to determine whether to open an investigation.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Pennsylvania school district says it remotely activated webcams 42 times to find missing student laptops, but never did so to spy on students, as a lawsuit claims.

Lower Merion School District spokesman Doug Young says the district recovered 28 of those laptops over 14 months. The others remain missing. The district has about 2,300 student laptops.

A high school student accused the school in a federal lawsuit this week of turning on his laptop camera while it was inside his home.

Young tells The Associated Press that only two technology department employees were authorized to activate the cameras — and only to locate missing laptops.

He says Lower Merion school officials did not tell students and parents about the security technique.