Ears and Eyes

An audio surveillance device was found in an anarchist library. The device was hidden inside the printer-copier of the library. It included two microphones, an antenna, a transformer, a battery, a small box containing an electronic card, a 64 GB SD card, and a SIM card. According to the article that reported the discovery of the device, it was a surveillance device of model RB800 marketed by the Italian company Innova.

Analysis of the SD card revealed that :

• The device was equipped with a “voice activation” function, i.e. it only activated when its microphone picked up a sufficiently high sound level. In the month and a half prior to its discovery, it was activated 2,061 times, with a minimum activation duration of 58 seconds, a maximum duration of 12 hours and an average duration of 10 minutes.
• When the device was “activated” by the sound level, it transmitted data over the mobile phone network (presumably the audio data captured by its microphone), generally at a rate of a few KB/s, with peaks of 100 KB/s.
• The temperature of the device varied between 14°C and 50°C, with an average of 22°C. Its temperature rose sharply when it was transmitting data.

An AirTag — a tracking device marketed by Apple — was found taped under a bike. It had a diameter of about 3.5 centimeters.

Two cameras were found in the streets. Each was in a box attached to an electric pole. They were able to film the entrances and surroundings of the buildings under surveillance. They were present — possibly on and off — since 2019. After the discovery of the first camera, the second one was removed, presumably by the State intelligence services.

A camera was found outside, pointed towards a house. It was barely emerging from the ground and was covered with brambles and grass. It was connected to a “Pepwave” router and to two cases containing lithium batteries labeled “Accuwatt”, hidden in a ditch, under a tarp and a camouflage net.

The batteries were marketed by the company Accuwatt, specialized in batteries for law enforcement and the military.

A GPS tracker was found under a car. It was located in the lower right body frame. According to the authorities, the tracker had been installed in May 2020.

Four cameras were found outside a large area where people lived. They were hidden near an access gate to the area, camouflaged in a fake tree log and fake stones. They filmed continuously and were connected, via buried cables, to large batteries and concealed modems. The mention “Allwan” was visible on a label on a camera. The cameras were found on August 31, and appeared to have been installed right before a event organized in the area on August 29 and 30.

The mention “Allwan”, visible on a label on a camera, suggests that the cameras were supplied by the French company Allwan Security.

Three outdoor surveillance cameras were found outside, close to the venue of an event. They were located along a 250m pathway leading to the venue. Among them, two cameras of model “BOLYGUARD MG983G” were found laying in the grass and in a bush, 80 centimeters above ground and were covered by a kind of camouflage hairnet. The third camera, of model “RECONYX HYPERFIRE SM750”, was found on a tree trunk, 1m20 above ground and had a khaki color.

The contents of the SD cards revealed that:

• The cameras were installed on the day they were found, very early in the morning (between 3h30 and 4h)
• They were capable of night vision. Two of them were configured to take pictures and the third one to record video and sound.
• Their positioning allowed them to take pictures of the front and back license plates of cars driving on the pathway, and of people walking on the pathway.
• One of the cameras was useless because of leaves in its field of vision.

According to the article that reported the discovery of the cameras, they were marketed by the United States companies RECONYX and Boly.

A microphone was found in a building. It was located in a multi-socket adapter. The device contained a printed circuit board and a battery. It was seemingly installed during a house search by police earlier in the month.

A surveillance device was found in a school located in front of an anarchist library. It was located in a storage room on the first floor, overlooking the library through a window. It looked like a cardboard folder. It was contained in a hard plastic rectangular casing of about 40x25x25 centimeters. It was loud (because of fans) and connected to the electrical network (without batteries). The casing had a hole of about 4 centimeters in diameter for the camera, with three cables coming out at the end, two of which were antennas and a third a small square sensor.

Inside the box were:

• A wireless router with two SIM cards, a GPS module, three cell inputs, and one stereo input.
• A processor.
• A cellular device with a SIM card.
• A camera with two remote-controlled zoom levels.
• And other things that could not be identified.

The device was in place since at least the second week of July 2015.

A geolocation device was found in a car. It was located behind the car battery ventilation grids. It consisted in a small black case of 9 by 5 centimeters, connected with wires to the car electrical system. Inside a case were two printed circuit boards, a passive antenna, a geolocation device branded “Navman” and a SIM card.