A Pennsylvania-area school district official has called a press conference to vehemently deny charges of spying on students with remotely activated webcams.
Vice Principal Lindy Matsko also claimed that she has been the victim of numerous “mean and threatening” e-mails.
“At no time have I ever monitored a student via a laptop webcam,” Matsko insisted in a statement obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Nor have I ever authorized the monitoring of a student via a laptop webcam, either at school or in the home. And I never would.”
Matsko – who was restrained from further discussion of the case by a federal gag order – acknowledged that she too would be “outraged” if anyone spied on either of her children at home.
“As a parent, I would adamantly protest and object to any attempt by my children’s school to mete out discipline based upon conduct engaged in outside of school.”
As TG Daily previously reported, the FBI and federal prosecutors recently joined an investigation of the Lower Merion school district for allegedly using webcams to spy on students in their homes.
The federal probe was prompted by a lawsuit filed by the parents of one Blake J. Robbins – who accused district officials of remotely snapping photos of their son.
However, the school district contends that the webcams were installed to prevent the theft of over 2,620 expensive laptops.
Nevertheless, the US Attorney’s office believes the controversial incident is serious enough to warrant a proactive investigation by federal authorities.
“The issues raised by these allegations are wide-ranging and involve the meeting of the new world of cyberspace with that of physical space,” US Attorney Michael Levy noted in an official statement.
