PHILADELPHIA

(AP)- A federal lawsuit accuses a suburban Philadelphia school district of spying on students at home through school-issued laptop webcams.

The suit says Lower Merion School District officials can activate the webcams remotely without students' knowledge. The lawsuit alleges the cameras captured images of Harritan High School students and their families as they undressed and in other compromising situations.

Families learned of the alleged webcam images when an assistant principal spoke to a student about inappropriate behavior at home.

In a statement, the school district said the laptops contained a security feature intended to track lost, or stolen laptops but the feature has been deactivated.

The district said the tracking feature would not be reactivated "without express written notification to all students and families."