SCHOOLS MUST WARN STUDENTS, FAMILIES IF BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
New guidelines require districts to notify parents, kids that software and built-in camera can monitor use.
The provocatively named Anti-Big Brother Act arose out of a situation in Pennsylvania in which a school district was accused of spying on students through their school-issued laptops, including taking literally thousands of pictures.
New Jersey legislators seeking to prevent such incidents here passed the new law this past spring. It requires districts to notify students and their families that computers issued to them may be equipped to record their locations and use. It also says that such information will not be used “in a manner that would violate the privacy rights of the student or any individual residing with the student.”
But that’s where things can get murky, so the state Department of Education this week released additional guidelines about what the law covers and what other