A 12-year-old Minnesota girl was reduced to tears while school officials and a police officer rummaged through her private Facebook postings after forcing her to surrender her password, an ACLU lawsuit alleges.
The claims are the latest in a string of tales showing that even password-protected, private online activities might not be safe from curious government agencies and schools.
The girl, whose identity is withheld in the lawsuit, came home "crying, depressed, angry, scared and embarrassed" after she was intimidated into divulging her login information by a school counselor and a deputy sheriff, who arrived in uniform, armed with a Taser, the lawsuit alleges.
I believe that the district should not have read or gone through the students facebook. Not only is it her first amendment right taht is being violated but it is also her 4th amendment by searching her facebook. I believe that if they really wanted to see what was on her wall or facebook there could have been other options. For someone to have complained about it they must have had access through there account to see. why didn't they borrow there account to let the officials look that way?
She might not be the nicestest little girl but she still has rights. I know that sometimes 12 year olds can get out of control but as school counselor they should have known better!
