“Spy High,” a recent documentary about the Robbins vs Lower Merion School District (LMSD) lawsuit—often called “WebcamGate”—was released on April 8th, 2025. Prime Video’s new four part documentary portrays a scandal of school laptops secretly taking photos of students unknown to their knowledge. Directed by Jody McVeigh-Schultz, its aim is to educate the public on the dangers of webcams. “Spy High” delves into the lawsuit, the school district’s actions, and the impact of the incident.
Although I have not watched the documentary myself, I can give you an overview of the story. When I reached out to a district teacher for comment, they declined to speak on the record.
The Back Story
In November of 2009, Harriton High School sophomore Blake Robbins was called to the principal’s office. They accused him of dealing and consuming drugs, and the school presented photo evidence in support of the accusation. However, the presented evidence of Blake holding the alleged drugs seemed to be taken with his laptop camera in his bedroom. This led to the discovery that his school-issued laptop had secretly taken a photo of him at home.
Blake and his family filed a lawsuit claiming the school was spying on him, causing a media uproar and triggering an FBI investigation. An FBI investigation revealed that the district had taken over 56,000 images using a remote technology called Theft Track, designed to take random photos on a laptop webcam considered lost or stolen. Although Blake’s laptop was not labeled as stolen, it turns out his privacy was still violated. He was one of 20 students who had not paid the $55 insurance fee to take the laptop home but was tracked. The district admitted to remotely activating webcams on student devices, claiming the feature was meant to locate lost or stolen laptops. They soon acknowledged that the software sometimes remained activated longer than it should have, for weeks or months, even after a laptop was found. In February of 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to support the Robbins family. The Robbins family sued, and a parallel Hasan lawsuit, when another student came forward with lawsuits after realizing they were being spied on, settled for $610,000 in total. The district thus disabled the tracking software.
Spy High frames the incident as a shocking privacy violation, but some context is missing. The tracking software was originally intended for theft recovery, not monitoring students. While the lack of transparency was a major issue, there’s no evidence that administrators intentionally viewed private moments. The FBI, U.S. The Attorney’s Office, and Montgomery County District Attorney all initiated criminal investigations of the matter, which they combined and then closed because they did not find evidence “that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone involved had criminal intent,” U.S. Attorney Zane D. Memeger said in a statement.
“Spy High” has sparked controversy, but the context is what makes the whole case so debatable. Although it’s understandable as to why the Robbins family was so upset, the school district didn’t have malicious intent. Now, will you watch “Spy High,” a documentary about our school district?
