Yeah, that was in Philly. There was a suit that <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20101012_Student_... in a settlement</a> and I think there were a few other suits that I didn't follow to the end. That case was hugely different than others, though.
First, the <em>school</em> district <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/17/school-used-student.htm... something like 50,000+ photos of minors</a> in their homes and then used what they found in those photos to accuse the minor who sued of doing drugs. The issue question in this case is about who was doing the recording. In this case, it was the school. In Mark's case, the accused knowingly recorded himself (though he didn't know he was also sending that data back to the Laptop's owner).
Secondly, the school's problem was with the scope of what they were recording and where. In your office, your employer can tape you without your knowledge while you're at your desk or at the water cooler, but they can't record you in the bathroom, where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy . You'd certainly have a somewhat subjective expectation in your home, too, even if you were using your work computer. (e.g. The courts would find it reasonable to monitor your Facebook usage on a work computer outside of work hours, but would not find it reasonable to photograph you inside your home from that same computer.)
Lastly, there's the human element of the courts. A judge and jury are almost always going to be less sympathetic toward a school district that should have known better than they would be toward a plaintiff who admittedly took someone's laptop and recorded themselves on it.
First, the <em>school</em> district <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/17/school-used-student.htm... something like 50,000+ photos of minors</a> in their homes and then used what they found in those photos to accuse the minor who sued of doing drugs. The issue question in this case is about who was doing the recording. In this case, it was the school. In Mark's case, the accused knowingly recorded himself (though he didn't know he was also sending that data back to the Laptop's owner).
Secondly, the school's problem was with the scope of what they were recording and where. In your office, your employer can tape you without your knowledge while you're at your desk or at the water cooler, but they can't record you in the bathroom, where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy . You'd certainly have a somewhat subjective expectation in your home, too, even if you were using your work computer. (e.g. The courts would find it reasonable to monitor your Facebook usage on a work computer outside of work hours, but would not find it reasonable to photograph you inside your home from that same computer.)
Lastly, there's the human element of the courts. A judge and jury are almost always going to be less sympathetic toward a school district that should have known better than they would be toward a plaintiff who admittedly took someone's laptop and recorded themselves on it.