Minnesota girl alleges school privacy invasion

[jnelsoninjax]

(CNN) -- A Minnesota middle school student, with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union, is suing her school district over a search of her Facebook and e-mail accounts by school employees.

The 12-year-old sixth grade student, identified in court documents only as R.S., was on two occasions punished for statements she made on her Facebook account, and was also pressured to divulge her password to school officials, the complaint states.

"R.S. was intimidated, frightened, humiliated and sobbing while she was detained in the small school room" as she watched a counselor, a deputy, and another school employee pore over her private communications.

The lawsuit claims that her First Amendment rights were violated by employees at Minnewaska Area Middle School, in west-central Minnesota, as well as her Fourth Amendment rights regarding unreasonable search and seizure.

The Minnewaska School District denies any wrongdoing.

"The district did not violate R.S.'s civil rights, and disputes the one-sided version of events set forth in the complaint written by the ACLU," according to a district statement.

According to the complaint, R.S. felt that one of the school's adult hall monitors was picking on her, so she wrote on her Facebook "wall" that she hated that person because she was mean.

The message was not posted from school property or using any school equipment or connections, the lawsuit states.

Somehow, the school principal got a hold of a screenshot of the message, and punished R.S. with detention and made her apologize to the hall monitor, the complaint says.

She was in trouble again shortly thereafter for another Facebook post, which asked who turned her in, using an expletive for effect, the lawsuit says. She was given in school suspension and missed a class ski trip.

In the third incident, according to the complaint, R.S. was called in by school officials after the guardian of another student complained that R.S. had had a conversation about sex on Facebook.

The girl was called to a meeting with a deputy sheriff, school counselor and an unidentified school employee, the court documents states.

There, she was "intimidated" into giving up her login and passwords to her Facebook and e-mail accounts, the lawsuit says.

"R.S. was extremely nervous and being called out of class and being interrogated," the lawsuit says.

The officials did not have permission from R.S.'s mother to view her private communications, and they gave the girl a hard time about some of the material they discovered, the lawsuit states.

"Students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the school house gate," Charles Samuelson, executive director for the ACLU in Minnesota, said in a statement. "The Supreme Court ruled on that in the 1970s, yet schools like Minnewaska seem to have no regard for the standard."

The school district maintains that such searches did not cross any boundaries.

"The district is confident that once all facts come to light, the district's conduct will be found to be reasonable and appropriate," the district said.

Source

[xbamaris]

Wait, either I'm not reading this correctly, or reading too much into this, but the school district pretty much admitted all this actually happened and they believe they weren't in the wrong, according to the last line of the article that is.

[jnelsoninjax]

That seems to be the underlying statement: We did all this, but we were justified in doing so.

[Original Poster]

****ing dick heads, if someone did that to my child I would beat them within an inch

[jnelsoninjax]

It is truly sad that social networking has gotten so out of hand that schools, employers, etc. seem to use it to 'look' for problems and punish for said incidents, rather then simply leaving them alone. This whole incident seems to me like a witch hunt.

[Solid Knight]

Coercing a kid to give up her login info? That's not going to go over well.

[articuno1au]

I'm surprised that they didn't add wrongful arrest/detainment to it.

I can't wait to see them get stomped for this..

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

They're in the wrong, pure and simple and they're going to be paying out a lot of money. She was not on school property, she used no school equipment, she committed no crime. They had no permission from her guardian which means any search made was illegal and any data or information obtained was done so illegally.

The police should have known better, any search done on an adult, whether on their person or of their property (which includes data) must be signed off by a judge with a search warrant, they had no search warrant and no permission from a guardian since she is a minor.

They not only infringed her amendment rights, they probably also infringed her human rights too. She did not commit any cyber bullying crimes either so they can't even use that excuse.

They haven't got a leg to stand on.

[FloatingFatMan]

I hope we can get an update on this once there are further developments...

[devBrian]

12? Shouldn't she not be on facebook in the first place?

[tiagosilva29]

12? Shouldn't she not be on facebook in the first place?

I believe so.

[ylcard]

12? Shouldn't she not be on facebook in the first place?

That's so irrelevant.

[DocM]

That's so irrelevant.

Considering Facebook's TOS has an age restriction of at least 13, it's not irrelevant at all.

[ylcard]

Considering Facebook's TOS has an age restriction of at least 13, it's not irrelevant at all.

It's not Facebook's TOS that protects people's rights.

This is irrelevant.

Edit:

Pretty much every single person on Facebook has broken the TOS already.

Read this:

"You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook"

or, "You will keep your contact information accurate and up-to-date"

[Memphis]

It's not Facebook's TOS that protects people's rights.

This is irrelevant.

Edit:

Pretty much every single person on Facebook has broken the TOS already.

Read this:

"You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook"

or, "You will keep your contact information accurate and up-to-date"

Except that the 13 age requirement is in the TOS, because it is also federal and state law.

[DocM]

Free speech in the public square is a "right" by birth. Speech in a private billboard entity like Facebook is a privilege that has to be obtained legally and its TOS has to be complied with in signing up. "Everyone else does it" isn't a legally enforceable position.

[Japlabot]

School has every right to punish students for out of school activities even if completely unrelated to the school (in this case it is related, as it relates to other school staff/pupils at the school) as it is a condition of enrollment that you follow the school rules. Same as rules in a workplace as a condition of employment. If an employee is found guilty of embezzlement completely unrelated to their current workplace they sure as hell won't be allowed to stick around as their CFO.

It is not private communication, it is open to anyone who is a recipient or is allowed access the Facebook wall.

Evidence from the recipient/person who has wall access is sufficient however, requiring log in details is a step too far.

Just punish the child Neil they remove the offending posts the self, if the parents don't like it, they can remove the child from the school and the staff/children can pursue it in court for defamation if it is serious enough.

Same as how courts work when they can't physically MAKE you do something without your co-operation, they just keep punishing you (contempt of court) until you do it.

School had every right to hold her in detention, suspend for as long as she was in contempt of the school or even expel her after she broke the rules.

[ylcard]

Except that the 13 age requirement is in the TOS, because it is also federal and state law.

I'm unfamiliar with US laws, but if I'm understanding you correctly, it's a federal/state law to be at least 13 when creating a Facebook profile ?

Care to rephrase that ? Because that doesn't make sense, I must have misunderstood you.

Free speech in the public square is a "right" by birth. Speech in a private billboard entity like Facebook is a privilege that has to be obtained legally and its TOS has to be complied with in signing up. "Everyone else does it" isn't a legally enforceable position.

Now I'm not understanding you..

It's a right by birth, so she has the right to free speech, okay..

And free speech in a private "place" is not a right, okay..

So how does that give the school the right to search her private Facebook account ? Only Facebook has the right to "moderate" what she posts on her Facebook.

Like in my examples, I also broke Facebook's TOS, does that mean that rights no longer apply to me ? Does that mean that I can be arrested for anything I post or do on Facebook ? I say again, this is irrelevant.

Also, don't forget that her email account was also searched, and I don't know of any age requirement to have an email.

I'm seriously confused here.

[James Rose]

School has every right to punish students for out of school activities even if completely unrelated to the school

Would you be so kind to elaborate on this? Is this a legal statement, or is this a social construct? I do not have kids, so I don't really know. (no sarcasm) It would SEEM to me that what a person does outside of school could not be legally an issue that can be "prosecuted" by the school system. But I could be wrong, hence the reason for me asking for some details.

Thanks.

[Seizure1990]

Free speech in the public square is a "right" by birth. Speech in a private billboard entity like Facebook is a privilege that has to be obtained legally and its TOS has to be complied with in signing up. "Everyone else does it" isn't a legally enforceable position.

The problem isn't Facebook though. The problem is the school, which forced the girl to divulge her password. They did the same thing with her emails, and it's just as bad.

It's not the school's business whether or not she is breaking a TOS.

[jdegree]

The school is just plain wrong. Their job is to teach not parent.

If anything, they should have contacted the parents before taking Draconian measures.

[nominak]

I'm unfamiliar with US laws, but if I'm understanding you correctly, it's a federal/state law to be at least 13 when creating a Facebook profile ?

Care to rephrase that ? Because that doesn't make sense, I must have misunderstood you.

Now I'm not understanding you..

It's a right by birth, so she has the right to free speech, okay..

And free speech in a private "place" is not a right, okay..

So how does that give the school the right to search her private Facebook account ? Only Facebook has the right to "moderate" what she posts on her Facebook.

Like in my examples, I also broke Facebook's TOS, does that mean that rights no longer apply to me ? Does that mean that I can be arrested for anything I post or do on Facebook ? I say again, this is irrelevant.

Also, don't forget that her email account was also searched, and I don't know of any age requirement to have an email.

I'm seriously confused here.

By law, you cannot sign up for an internet forum without parental consent until you are 13 years of age.

[jdegree]

By law, you cannot sign up for an internet forum without parental consent until you are 13 years of age.

Reference provided for above.

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) is a United States federal law, located at 15 U.S.C. ?? 6501?6506 (Pub.L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2581-728, enacted October 21, 1998).

The act, effective April 21, 2000, applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. jurisdiction from children under 13 years of age. It details what a website operator must include in a privacy policy, when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and what responsibilities an operator has to protect children's privacy and safety online including restrictions on the marketing to those under 13. While children under 13 can legally give out personal information with their parents' permission, many websites altogether disallow underage children from using their services due to the amount of paperwork involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act

[ylcard]

By law, you cannot sign up for an internet forum without parental consent until you are 13 years of age.

Ah, I heard about that bit, yes..

So by signing up for an internet forum "illegally" you forfeit all rights ?

Either way, that's more of a legal issue, this has nothing to do with Facebook's TOS as far as I can see.

[DocM]

The school is just plain wrong. Their job is to teach not parent.

Please look up "in loco parentis." It's a legal doctrine that grants schools quite a few parental rights.

There have been a few limits placed on it by the Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier Supreme Court decision (1987), and since then computers have been added to the mix, but it does allow pretty significant privacy intrusions if the students comments etc. are related back to the school environment, events, relationships (ex: bullying.) If it could effect the school, they have a case.