Laptop spying, wiretap laws on agenda at Senate hearing Monday in Philly, amid school suit

Senate hearing in Philly focuses on laptop spying

PHILADELPHIA — Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania says he will seek legislation to address growing concerns about electronic privacy, given the widespread use of cell-phone, laptop and surveillance cameras.

The Pennsylvania Democrat led a field hearing on the issue in Philadelphia on Monday. Experts invited to speak debated whether secret video recordings should fall under the federal wiretap statute.

The debate comes as a lawsuit accuses a suburban Philadelphia school district of spying on students through webcams on school-issued laptops. Lower Merion school officials say they were trying only to locate missing computers.

Lawyer Kevin Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation says wiretap laws should cover videotaped surveillance, but others disagreed.