14 DAY TRIAL // The Lower Merion School District (LMSD), which spied on its students via school-issued laptops, has agreed to pay $610,000 in order to settle two invasion of privacy lawsuits brought against it.
The scandal, which has been dubbed "WebcamGate" by the media, centered around the improper use of theft tracking technology.
A special program installed and activated in some cases by district employees on school-issued laptops, took webcam pictures of students in their homes, as well as screen shots.
The unusual practice was uncovered when a 15-year-old student named Blake Robbins got questioned at school for inappropriate behavior.
He was shown a picture of himself in his own bedroom eating Mike and Ike candy as evidence. The school officials thought he might be popping pills.
When questioning the school about how this picture was obtained, the student's parents learned of the theft tracking program and filed a lawsuit for invasion of privacy, that later obtained class action status.
After a judge ordered the school district to send notification letters to everyone monitored through this technology, the family of another student named Jalil Hasan, filed a similar lawsuit.
Following an incident when Hasan's laptop was misplaced for a short period of time, but then recovered and returned to him, district employees activated the tracking software for no apparent reason.
During the following two months, the laptop took 469 webcam pictures and 543 screen shots. Many of the images showed Hasan in his bedroom, but some also depicted his family members and friends.
The settlement costs include $175,000 placed in a trust fund for Blake Robbins and $10,000 for Jalil Hasan. The remaining $425,000 are the legal fees paid to their common counsel, attorney Mark Haltzman.
"Earlier this summer, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI and the Montgomery County District Attorney cleared the District, and its employees - current and former -- of any criminal wrongdoing. [...]
"The District acknowledged and apologized for any mistakes and addressed them immediately. We revised our policies and procedures, reaffirmed our commitment to technology and put safeguards into place to ensure the privacy of our students, staff and school families. [...]
"We are pleased that these legal issues will be resolved and that our District can continue the process of moving forward," said David Ebby, president of the LMSD Board of School Directors.