>> With recent allegations of a Pennsylvania school spying on its students with a school-issued laptop, you may be wondering how someone can spy through a computer and how to prevent it from happening in your home. First, many laptops these days come with build-in Webcams. The little camera lens is usually located here at the top of the screen, and it's there so you can record yourself or so that you can live-chat with people over video. In some cases, spyware can be installed on a laptop that makes it easy for someone to record what the camera is seeing--similar to a video camera. And there's plenty of legitimate nanny, security, or remote-control software that you can use to remotely turn on a Webcam and monitor what's going on around the laptop. To prevent the Webcam from seeing you or your children, you can disable the Webcam in your PC's device manager, but there's even an easier solution than that. Just put a piece of black tape over the camera or even a post-it. Also make sure you let your younger children know that going on the computer is like going outside. They should always have a parent with them, and that way you can monitor what your children are seeing and make sure they're not being seen. For CBS news, I'm Molly Wood, cnet.com, in San Francisco.
