School policy bars remote use of student computer webcams

There is controversy in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District over a potential invasion of privacy.

Sparked by a situation in the Lower Merion School District in Ardmore, Pa, where the parents of a 16-year-old sued the district for allegedly using the “TheftTrack” feature in a school-issued computer to spy on students and their families, local families are worried that the same thing could happen to them.

Computers distributed to approximately 1,500 students in the CH-UH district have TheftTrack, which allows the computer’s built-in webcam to be operated via the Internet. It is provided by Absolute Software Corp. and is also installed in the CH-UH computers.

However, according to District Coordinator of Communications Angee Shaker, the district has never used the capability and has strict procedures in place if it’s ever needed.

 “No one in the district is authorized to access the webcam remotely from within the district network or across a private network,” Shaker said. “If a computer is reported stolen, any information gathered by Absolute Software – which could include a photo from the webcam – is shared only with law enforcement, not the district. To the best of our knowledge, this has never occurred.

“Occasionally, authorized information technology specialists may … install updates, diagnose software problems and/or make repairs, and configure parental controls to be certain that computers are in compliance with Board policy,” Shaker said.

But she emphasized: “The district does not—nor will it—violate our students’ privacy, or any laws, to access computers in a private/non-district network unless they have been reported stolen—and even then, that access is handled by a security company and the police.”

The issue may not exist for much longer anyway. On Absolute Software’s corporate blog, Stephen Midgley, vice president of global marketing, wrote that TheftTrack was part of a larger acquisition made by the company in December 2009, and that “we have slated the removal of the TheftTrack feature in an upcoming product update” because “webcam pictures are not a useful tool in tracking down the location of a stolen computer.”

Bob Rosenbaum is a Cleveland Heights resident and member of the FutureHeights board of trustees.