In the wake of a report citing glaring privacy lapses related to remote tracking software, the Lower Merion School District says it plans to hire a consultant to ensure the issues are corrected.
District Supt. Christopher McGinley apologized for a second time this week for the firestorm surrounding the alleged webcam spying case that has enveloped the Montgomery County, Pa. township for months.
"We must learn, and we will learn, from our mistakes as we prepare for the remainder of this school year and look ahead to the next," McGinley wrote in a letter to parents Wednesday.
The 70-page independent report found district administrators and IT staff didn't do enough to protect student's privacy when they enabled computer tracking feature on student-issued notebook computers.
TheftTrack was enabled on 80 computers over a two-year period. In some cases, the feature was left running for weeks at a time, taking photos from the notebook's webcam every 15 minutes, the report found.
That tracking prompted Harriton High School sophomore Blake Robbins and his family to file a class-action lawsuit against the district claiming they were spying on him and his peers.
"We are sorry that a vitally important instructional program was not handled appropriately," McGinley said.
In addition to the search for a privacy consultant to keep them honest, McGinley said the district have been and will continue meeting with students and families to address their concerns.
They also plan to increase the size of the Technology Advisory Council and give updates on the case at every board meeting.
