Webcams

“I've always wanted to be a spy, and frankly I'm a little surprised that British intelligence has never approached me.”
-Elizabeth Hurley (British actress)

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you
-song lyrics by Police

Now here is a scary story if it proves true. A family in Pennsylvania has accused their son's school district of installing spyware on school-issued laptops that students take home. Each laptop includes a built-in web-camera. The family claims in their lawsuit that,

...the School District in fact has the ability to remotely activate the webcam contained in a students' [sic] personal laptop computer issued by the School District at any time it chose and to view and capture whatever images were in front of the webcam, all without the knowledge, permission or authorization of any persons then and there using the laptop computer.

Bottom Line

Personally I avoid buying any computer with a built-in webcam. I've read stories of computer hacks that can turn these on remotely so you have no idea you are being watched. So I use a webcam via a USB port that I can unplug when not in use.