Quito minister claims 'mirror rooms' linked to security cameras; official denies existence

A dispute has emerged in Quito over the existence of "mirror rooms" allegedly connected to the city's security camera system. Interior Minister John Reimberg stated on August 10, 2026, that five to six such rooms were linked to the capital's monitoring center and cameras. He suggested these facilities might have been used to leak information, hindering planned security operations.

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I presume that there was a leak of information when the authorities were going to carry out operations.

Reimberg announced an investigation to identify who had access to these systems and why. He also confirmed that the connection of these rooms to Quito's cameras had been suspended to allow for traceability. The minister's claims pointed to a potential security breach within the city's surveillance infrastructure.

However, Adriana Moreira, the manager of Emseguridad, directly contradicted Reimberg's statements during a Metropolitan Council session on August 11. Moreira asserted that no such mirror rooms exist, neither connected to Emseguridad, the Metropolitan Transit Agency, the Metropolitan Public Company of Mobility and Public Works, nor the Control Agency. She also stated that no users in these alleged rooms had the capacity to download information.

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Mirror rooms do not exist.

Wilson Goyes, director of the School of Risk at the Universidad Internacional del Ecuador and a security analyst, explained that a "mirror room" is technically a secondary or remote monitoring center receiving real-time signals from a main surveillance hub. These centers replicate the primary infrastructure's data streams, allowing for monitoring and control of cameras from authorized terminals, potentially located in different offices. Such systems are typically used for public space monitoring, crime prevention, traffic control, emergency management, and tactical support for law enforcement.

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A mirror room is a secondary or remote monitoring center that receives the same signal and video flows in real time from the cameras of a main central.