Notebooks are used for surveillance by the big brothers

Have you ever thought your notebook PC is used as the tool of surveillance of your life? Here is the quotation from today's news.

A school district in Philadelphia faces a class action lawsuit after it allegedly issued laptop computers to 1,800 students across two high schools and then used concealed cameras within the machines to spy on students and their parents without their knowledge or consent.

It is not just a school district in the US. Google has been interested using the users' computers for collecting whatever the information it can get.

In 2006, Google announced that they would use in-built microphones to listen in on user’s background noise, be it television, music or radio – and then direct advertising at them based on their preferences.

Both quotations are from the same article.

I think not so many students have their own computers. Some might share one's PC with their parents as a home PC. What the school district is doing could be like checking the use of the particular computer. What if the parents use it for paying bills online? Someone can know the credit card number in the name of student's activity check. If it is about the case with Google, a couple in one room and asking another the credit card number to pay for a house goods, the person behind listening the background noise can hear the credit card number spoken.

My concern is that not so many people having the job behind such surveillance are well paid. These who are involved in the surveillance for whatever the purpose could use the information they learned for their benefits. They might sell the credit card numbers to their friends in the Third World country where strict Internet laws are not yet established.

Also, bringing in a laptop to an important meeting could be a security threat for companies and organizations. You never know who can listen or watch from the built-in cameras and phones...