Pennsylvania school district accused of spying in students' home through webcams

The FBI started investigations in the case and will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws, the official said. 

Just after a student filed a lawsuit in the case, Lower Merion officials acknowledged Friday that they remotely operated webcams 42 times in the past 14 months, but only to look for missing student laptops. They denied that they had done so to spy on students, as the student's family claimed in the federal lawsuit.

Students' families were not told about the possibility the webcams might be operated in their homes without their consent when students took over the computers, district spokesman Doug Young said.

The district has suspended the practice after the lawsuit had been filed and the outrage from students, the community and privacy advocates. District officials involved outside counsel to review the past webcam operations and advise the district on related issues, Young said.