Legal, ethical & social issues in the case of an intrusive remote monitoring software

Abstract

In 2008, a laptop was stolen from a high school student in the USA. The laptop was being monitored by remote recovery software. The thief sold the laptop in question to another student who in turn sold it to a teacher. The software continued to monitor the private daily life of this teacher. This paper provides an overview of the resultant lawsuit. We examine the ethical, privacy and legal dilemmas highlighted by this case.