Equalities Minister Ana Redondo has acknowledged that she cannot commit to ensuring that the Cometa system of sexist offender monitors does not fail again between now and the new contract starts in May next year, while ensuring that victim protection is guaranteed.
The head of Equality appeared at the Congress of Deputies on Wednesday to provide explanations about the latest “technical incident” detected at Cometa, on November 11, when the system was affected by a server that was down for around twelve hours.
“The safety of the victims was never at risk,” Redondo repeated several times, insisting that the server technology failed, but the protocols to ensure their protection were activated immediately and they were informed of the situation.
The minister explained the technical details of the incident: the “unwanted system behavior” following a routine cybersecurity task. As a result, one of the servers was affected, which caused delays in receiving geolocation information of victims and attackers on the other three servers.
Redondo said the incident lasted from 4:30 a.m. to 5:25 p.m. on Tuesday 11 November and that the emergency plan with the State Security Forces and Bodies was activated. She and her ministerial team traveled to the Cometa center to monitor its resolution.
This issue, he said, did not affect devices, only servers, and there was no lack of protection as a result of the incident.
“We are aware that situations like those of 9/11 cannot happen again, but I also recognize that no technology, unfortunately, is infallible. Specific incidents can occur in complex systems, but the determining factor is that the protocols have worked and will continue to work to protect women,” she noted.
In this sense, he added that he cannot promise that a new incident will not occur between now and the new Cometa contract comes into force in May 2026. “I cannot promise that these servers will not fail again between now and the end of the contract,” he argued.
Future contract
However, he indicated that the specifications for the future contract are already being defined, which will incorporate the conclusions provided by the internal and external audits that will be prepared on the system. The future contract, he explained, will include “better quality devices” and advancements and improvements available on the market.
The minister underlined that she did not want to minimize the problem, but underlined that it must be framed correctly so that victims stop being transported in “a situation of lack of protection that does not correspond to reality”, fear and mistrust in the face of a solid and reliable system that saves human lives every day.
Answering several questions from parliamentary groups, he underlined that Equality has not received any notification from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office about the shortcomings recorded in Cometa and that the system cannot be entirely public because it is the technology companies that can provide the necessary technology.
Redondo argued that tracking devices for sexist attackers are a tool that enjoys widespread support from victims who carry them because, she said, 87% feel safer, 88% consider it very or somewhat effective and 90% would recommend it to other women.
Equality currently has 7,500 monitoring devices for sexist offenders, of which approximately 4,500 have been installed by court order to ensure compliance with the removal penalty in gender-based violence and sexual violence.
