Ears and Eyes

An audio surveillance device was found in the Libertad anarchist library in Paris, France. The device was hidden inside the printer-copier of the library. It was composed of two microphones, an antenna, a transformer, a battery, a small box containing an electronic card, a 64 GB SD card and a SIM card from the cell phone provider Orange. According to the communique which announced 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 telephone 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, near self-managed political places. Each camera was in a box attached to an electric pole. They were able to film the entrances and surroundings of the places. They were present — possibly on and off — since 2019. After the discovery of the first camera, the second one was removed by the State intelligence services.

A surveillance camera was found at the entrance of the village, pointed towards the home of an environmental activist. The camera, barely emerging from the ground, was covered with brambles and grass. It was connected to a Pepwave router and to two cases containing high-tech lithium batteries labeled Accuwatt, hidden in a ditch, under a tarp and a camouflage net.

High-technology batteries found alongside the cameras were marketed by the company Accuwatt, specialized in batteries for armies and law enforcement agencies.

A GPS tracker was found under a car. It was located in the lower right body frame. In September 2020, the owner of the vehicle had been accused as part of an investigation into the arson of several cell towers, before being cleared and released. The device was installed since may 2020, according to the cops.

Four cameras were found near the “ZAD du Carnet”, a place of struggle against the creation of an industrial area, in Loire-Atlantique, in the west of France. The four cameras, hidden near an access gate to the area, were camouflaged in a fake tree log and fake stones. They filmed continuously and were connected, via buried cables, to large batteries and modems, also concealed, allowing images to be sent directly to a remote station. The mention “Allwan” was visible on some of the images found, as well as on a label on a camera. The cameras were found on August 31, and appeared to have been installed right before a “weekend of resistance” organized there on August 29 and 30.

The mention “Allwan”, visible on images found on the devices, as well as on a label on a camera, suggests that the devices were supplied by the French company Allwan Security.

Three outdoor surveillance cameras were found outside, at an event organized in support of a struggle against a project of nuclear waste burying center. The cameras were all located along a 250m pathway leading to the event place. Two cameras of model BOLYGUARD MG983G were found laying in the grass and in a bush, 80cm 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 memory cards revealed several things: the devices were placed on the same day very early in the morning (between 3h30 and 4h); the three devices were capable of night vision, two of them were configured to take pictures and one to record video and sound; their placements allowed them to take pictures of the front and back license plates of cars driving on the pathway, and also of people following the pathway by foot; one of the cameras was useless because of leaves in its field of vision.

According to the source that reported the discovery of the cameras, the cameras that were found were marketed by the companies RECONYX and Boly, based in the United States.

A microphone was found in the squat Awhanee. It was located in a multi-socket adapter. The device contains a printed circuit board and a battery. It seems that the device was installed during a house search by cops earlier in the month.

A surveillance device was found in the “Plaisir d'enfance” Montessori school just in front of the anarchist library La Discordia, in a storage room on the first floor overlooking a window in front of the library. The device took the form of a “cardboard folder”. The device was in a rectangular casing about 40x25x25 cm in hard plastic, loud (because of fans), and plugged into the power supply (without batteries). The casing had a hole of about 4 cm in diameter for the camera, with three cables coming out at the end, two of which were tipped antennae (probably sound sensors) and a third a small square sensor. Inside the box advanced technological equipment was found: a wireless router with two SIM cards (from the “Bouygues” mobile operator), a GPS module, three cell inputs, one stereo input ; a processor ; a telephone device with an Orange SIM card; a camera with two zoom levels, remote controlled; and other types of materials that could not be identified. The device was in place at least since the second week of July 2015.

A geolocation device was found in the car of members of a support committee to the defendants in the Tarnac affair (in trial for the sabotage of a high-speed train catenary which took place in 2008). The device was placed 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, two printed circuit boards including a passive antenna, a geolocation device branded Navman and an Orange SIM card to transmit the data.