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»

He allegedly wanted to spy on estranged spouse

(NEWSER) - The weird crime story of the week from Raccoon Township in Pennsylvania's Beaver County. It seems a woman called police to say she found a "transmitter device" under her bed and was pretty sure her estranged husband put it there, reports the Beaver County Times . When cops approached 66-year-old Wayne Comet Cripe, he maybe shouldn't have greeted them by saying, "I guess she found the transmitter." More»

Dharun Ravi's old classmate: He texted 'I guess it makes sense'

(NEWSER) - After Tyler Clementi killed himself, his roommate apparently sent a text saying that "he was quiet all the time and had no friends, so I guess it makes sense." A former classmate of roommate Dharun Ravi testified about the text in the Clementi trial today, and added that Ravi had invited her to a "viewing party" to spy on Clementi having sex , reports MyCentralJersey.com . But the witness, Michelle Huang, said she declined to remotely activate the video chat: "I had no interest in viewing. I didn't do it." Ravi faces up to 5 years on charges including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation as a hate crime. Clementi jumped off a bridge days after Ravi watched him via webcam having a gay encounter. 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»