A hidden audio-recording agent has been installed on most interactive panels used in classrooms at Moscow schools, according to a GitHub analysis. The agent receives instructions through an API hosted at school.mos.ru and uploads audio recordings to servers operated by Moscow’s Department of Information Technology. Independent outlet Mediazona also examined the rpm software package published on GitHub and confirmed the findings.
The equipment installed in the interactive panels allows a microphone to be activated remotely by a server command and to record what is happening in a classroom. Teachers and students have not been officially informed that lessons may be recorded. School administrators may have been notified informally, however, because teachers have circulated rumors about the capabilities of the new panels.
Since 2022, Moscow schools have installed the Moscow Electronic School operating system on interactive panels and computers. It is a Linux distribution built on the ROSA Linux package base.
Meanwhile, an rpm package called mesh-agent-lesson-log has two versions. The first was titled “Agent for Audio Recording of a Lesson” and was not widely installed. The current version, called “Agent Ensures Conduct of a Lesson,” no longer mentions audio recording in its name. “On three boards in different schools, dnf history shows the package being installed and updated from August through October 2026,” the GitHub post said.
A source in Moscow’s education sector told Mediazona that audio-recording devices are also installed in laptops that are used as part of the MosTech ecosystem supplied to schools. According to the source, the recordings were intended to be processed by artificial intelligence, but the results have so far been deemed unsatisfactory, and the neural network is expected to undergo further training with human participation. Officially, the recordings are intended to compare schools’ calendar-based curriculum plans with what is actually taught during lessons.
