Deputies told to keep an eye on iPads

Around 20 iPad tablet computers have been reported lost or stolen since being handed out to members of parliament at the start of the current legislature last year. Too many, says Congress, which is now telling deputies the devices will not be replaced.

The IT department of the lower house is only considering paying for the repairs on around ten damaged tablets belonging to deputies.

It justified the measure on the grounds of "austerity" and "responsibility" after the Congress IT board and standing committee both studied the issue.

The final decision will be taken by the Congress standing committee next week.

At the start of the current legislature late last year the lower house handed out a series of technological tools to its 350 deputies to help improve their work. Among these were latest generation smartphones, ADSL internet connections in their homes and an iPad tablet computer that fulfilled all the functions of the laptop that they had received until then.

Congressional speaker Jesús Posada on Tuesday said the figure of between 15 and 20 iPads lost or stolen since then was "a little bit too high," reported newswire Efe.

Posada also clarified that Congress would pay only once to repair a broken iPad. The cost of fixing a second breakage would have to be covered by deputies themselves.

Congress' IT department is also studying the option of protecting its devices by activating Apple's included "Find My iPad" service - which allows the owner of a missing device to locate it on a map and block or delete its contents - or with a password.

The Socialist Party spokeswomen in Congress, Soraya Rodríguez, supported the move, underlining that deputies were responsible for looking after the devices until the end of their term of office.

Congress standing committee member and Popular Party deputy Santiago Cervera said no unlawful use or unauthorized access into the missing iPads had been registered.

One of the parliamentarians keenest to open Congress up to new technologies, Cervera defended the handing out of the tablets to deputies. "Any company that manages information equips its employees with similar equipment," he said. "I know there are those who say these ought to be paid for by the deputies themselves. I do not agree, because it is about standardizing the resources that are available to all of us."