In Deep Cotton in Pennsylvania

FBI, US Attorney Investigating Penn. School District’s Computer Spying on Young Students: "we know someone accessed my webcam and provided Ms. Matsko with a screen shot and a webcam picture of me at my home in my bedroom."

"LINDY MATSKO: First, as it has been previously reported, at no point in time did I have the ability to access any webcam through security tracking software. At no time have I ever monitored a student via a laptop webcam, nor have I ever authorized the monitoring of a student via security tracking webcam, either at school or within the home. And I never would. I find the allegations and implications that I have or ever would engage in such conduct to be offensive, abhorrent and outrageous.

AMY GOODMAN: Hours after Harriton High School Vice Principal Lindy Matsko spoke, the fifteen-year-old student Blake Robbins read a statement.

BLAKE ROBBINS: Nothing in Ms. Matsko’s statement is inconsistent with what we stated in our complaint. Ms. Matsko does not deny that she saw the webcam picture and screen shot of me in my home. She only denies that she is the one who activated the webcam. The issue is that we know someone accessed my webcam and provided Ms. Matsko with a screen shot and a webcam picture of me at my home in my bedroom."...

"...When a computer wasn’t checking in, when it was reported stolen or missing or they didn’t know where it was, they could schedule commands for the computer to pick up the next time it checked in. So when it checked in, if it came—if it checked into the school’s central server and there were commands waiting for it to start taking pictures, it would start taking pictures.

And what’s really interesting about that story that he just related is mistakes happen. They didn’t know where these computers were. And it’s important for people to understand, when these computers were activated, if they were reported missing, it would start taking pictures wherever they woke up. Even if they were stolen and they were in the bedroom of a kid who stole it, they were going to start taking pictures the moment they woke up."