Spycam-gate is generating a lot of buzz in Philadelphia:

Lower Merion School District in Montgomery County equipped 2,300 student Apple MacBook laptops with “security” spy cam software. The school district’s tech crew could switch on built-in Web cams without a user’s permission or knowledge. It allowed school administrators to see the room in which the laptop was located, and whoever and whatever was in front of the screen. The school spy could snap pictures and even erase any digital footprints.
Kind of like a cat burglar – invade a private home and not leave a trace.
The school district claims it used the spy cams to locate wayward computers that had been misplaced or stolen. Which isn’t a bad idea, if that’s all it’s for. The Web cams were secretly turned on in 43 cases. About half the missing laptops were recovered. But in one case, a camera was allegedly used to monitor a student’s behavior.
A 16-year-old high school sophomore was told by an assistant principal that he had engaged in “improper behavior.” Apparently, the district techs snapped a Web cam picture in the kid’s home, and the principal mistook candy on a table for drugs.
The boy and his parents are suing. So is the ACLU. The FBI is investigating. The school district is in an uproar.

As the Main Line Times reports, this isn’t the only story that’s making Lower Merion bureaucrats nervous this week.