The new restraining order control bracelets will have a longer battery life and the SIM card will not be removable.

BarcelonaThe new location bracelets used to monitor restraining orders for sexual and gender-based violence will have longer battery life, and the SIM card cannot be removed from the phones associated with them, which are worn by both victims and perpetrators. The contract with the joint venture of Vodafone and Securitas, which currently manages these devices, will end in early May, and this Tuesday the Council of Ministers authorized the hiring of a new service. The Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, explained that the new devices will have longer battery life and will be attached to the ankle, as is already the case with all those used in Catalan prisons. The new contract will have an initial duration of 36 months and an initial budget of 71 million euros. This figure could reach 111 million euros if the two annual extensions that are possible are activated. This new contract will also increase the number of devices in stock, allowing for replacements in "record time, a maximum of 24 hours," for those experiencing any malfunction.

The new contract comes a few months after it was made public the error in the restraining order control system that rendered location data inaccessible This resulted in numerous investigations and convictions and, as the Public Prosecutor's Office warned, led to "a large number of provisional dismissals or acquittals." Redondo recalled that this situation occurred during the transition between the previous contract with Telefónica and the current one with Vodafone and Securitas. During the transition between the two platforms, Redondo stated, "various malfunctions were found regarding data roaming." The minister also noted that the platform manages 30 million geolocations every day. Regarding the cases that were ultimately dismissed or resulted in acquittals due to this error, Redondo said they requested that the State Attorney General's Office and the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) provide them with these cases. "We are still awaiting these rulings. I think it's important to keep in mind that several months have already passed," she said.

Nevertheless, Redondo assured that following the incident, they launched two investigations, one internal and the other through an audit, and that the findings will serve to incorporate improvements into the next contract. "It's clear that technology can fail, but what cannot fail is the response of a responsible government," he added.