Watch CBS News

Pa. Family: School Spied on Kids Through Laptops

A suburban Philadelphia family claiming school employees spied on students through school-supplied laptops says tracking software captured thousands of images of students.

The motion filed Thursday by the family of Harriton High School student Blake Robbins says the records provided to them by Lower Merion School District also asserts that staff members viewed the images as a window into a school "soap opera," according to the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.

Robbins filed a federal lawsuit in February claiming the district spied on students in their homes.

District officials have acknowledged secretly activating Webcams to locate 42 missing laptops. They say Robbins' Webcam was activated because he wasn't authorized to take the laptop home.

A school attorney says there's no indication that images were misused.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.