Experts: School could have used GPS

February 23, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — School officials in Pennsylvania who admit remotely activating student web- cams to locate missing laptops could have used far-less-intrusive methods such as GPS tracking devices, technology and privacy experts say.

The Lower Merion School District instead finds itself defending a potential class-action lawsuit after a student complained of being photographed inside his home and accused of selling drugs.

The FBI is investigating the school district for possible wiretap and computer-use violations.

“The issues raised by these allegations are wide-ranging and involve the meeting of the new world of cyberspace with that of physical space. Our focus will only be on whether anyone committed any crimes,” U.S. Attorney Michael Levy said Monday, taking the unusual step of confirming the FBI and Justice Department investigation.

Though pledging to cooperate with any criminal probe, lawyers for the district also appeared in court for the first time Monday in the civil case, negotiating an agreement aimed at preserving computer evidence.

The district agreed not to destroy any evidence that might be found on its servers or on the nearly 2,300 laptops issued to students at its two high schools.

The district activated the webcams after 42 laptops disappeared in the past 14 months. Eighteen were located, district spokesman Doug Young said Monday.