School Gives Kids Laptops, Spies on Them Via Webcam

Official who saw photos called them a school 'soap opera'

(NEWSER) - The suburban Philly school district that spied on its students by giving them laptops with webcams to take home is getting sorrier and sorrier. A lawsuit by one of the students claims the district snapped thousands of images of kids, including pictures of them sleeping and in various states of undress, reports Wired . The Lower Merion district has admitted investigators found "a substantial number" of secret photos and has promised to show them to the students' parents, reports the Inquirer. Sen. Arlen Specter also got into the act Thursday, introducing a bill to make such spying a federal offense. More»

Recognize that face in an ad? It could be your friend—or you.

(NEWSER) - Imagine Peter Smith’s surprise when an ad for “hot singles” on Facebook featured a picture of … his wife. The site blames that flap on a third-party company violating policy, but the incident underscores Facebook’s notoriously unclear privacy settings, writes Bob Sullivan for MSNBC: “A hard-to-spot toggle switch grants the firm, by default, permission to use consumers’ information in advertisements to their friends.” More»

(NEWSER) - The hospital where octuplet mom Nadya Suleman birthed her brood has fired 15 of its employees and disciplined another eight for unauthorized peeking at Suleman’s medical records, the Los Angeles Times reports. The breech, discovered 10 days ago, has been reported to state authorities and to Suleman. The snoopers didn’t seem intent on selling the info, said hospital officials. More»

Toddlers identifiable in controversial Street View map feature

(NEWSER) - As mounting privacy concerns hit Google's new Street View service in the UK, the company has removed pictures of naked children playing outdoors in London. The British government is considering launching an investigation if officials determine that Google has made other images of naked children available to internet users, reports the Independent. Google removed pictures of the toddlers after being informed of them by reporters who spotted the children after just 10 minutes of searching. More»

Formula 1 boss wins $120,000 in damages against tabloid

(NEWSER) - Max Mosley has won his lawsuit against a British tabloid for exposing a sadomasochistic orgy he took part in and falsely claiming it had Nazi overtones, reports the Guardian. In a landmark decision, the head of world motorsport was awarded $120,000 in damages—thought to be a record in a British privacy case—from the News of the World, owned by Rupert Murdoch. More»