How we check
From signal to checked situation.
Every day, hundreds of reports on critical infrastructure come in. Only what is sourced, checked and released makes it into the radar. This is the path – step by step.
Editor during review (symbolic image, AI-generated)
How does the Critical Radar check information?
In five steps: an automated situation scan collects reports from official sources and pre-sorts them. Each statement is then matched with sources, ideally two independent ones. The editorial team checks content, place, time and classification, a named reviewer releases it, and older entries are regularly checked for currency.
As of 27 October 2026 · SAFETEE editorial team
Our principle: selection, verification, approval
Critical Radar is not an archive of reports – it is a situation picture. From thousands of reports, the SAFETEE editorial team selects what changes something for operations, projects and regions, verifies it down to the source and approves it. The result is a reliable situation picture – focused on what matters to you.
Four relevance criteria decide on the selection – each with at least one verifiable source:
- Impact – does the report change something for operations or projects?
- Proximity – does it affect the site or region?
- Industry – does it affect the reader's industry?
- Legal or cost consequence – does it result in an obligation, a deadline or a price?
With a company package, the view is focused: on your site, your region, your industry and your questions. What matters there goes into your situation and your forecasts – what does not matter there stays out.
Step 1 · Situation scan
Collect first, then sort.
Several times a day, an automated scan searches official feeds and data sources. It detects duplicates, assigns reports to a section, a place and a date, and presents them to the editorial team as a suggestion.
- Police and fire service reports, federal warnings (BBK/NINA)
- Federal Network Agency, grid operators, energy data (SMARD, ENTSO-E)
- Legislation live from the Bundestag documentation system (DIP)
- Duplicate reports are merged, not counted twice
- Who decides
- No one – the scan only suggests.
- How you can tell
- Unchecked ticker items carry the label “unchecked”.
Step 2 · Source search
No source, no line.
Every statement needs a source – preferably the primary source, i.e. authority, operator or court. Where possible, we look for a second, independent source. The editorial team also adds sources by hand; every reference appears as a footnote on the sentence.
- Primary source before secondary source
- Two independent sources: “confirmed”; one source: “single source”
- Footnote per sentence, numbered source index in the PDF
- Only freely or openly licensed sources, licences listed openly
- Who decides
- The editorial team – it checks and adds sources.
- How you can tell
- Label “single source”, sources as footnotes.
Publisher releases (ots) and dpa
Items marked (ots) come from the Originaltextservice of news aktuell (presseportal.de). The rights holder and responsible party is the respective publisher – company, association or authority – not news aktuell. We show only the original title, publisher, time and the link to the original story; we never shorten, translate or rephrase ots texts and take no images, videos or documents. Company and association releases are interested sources and never count as independent confirmation; releases by authorities count as official primary sources. ots is not dpa agency material: without our own dpa licence we do not take over dpa reports, headlines or images – articles with dpa material are only linked and referenced in our own words. ots content is hidden two years after publication at the latest and immediately on request of the rights holder, including in the archive and in PDFs.
Step 3 · Editorial review
People read. Every line.
In the editorial team, specialists from HSE, construction and energy check every suggestion: is the content correct? Do place and time fit? Is the classification factual and politically neutral? Whoever omits or changes something gives reasons.
- Content, place, date and section checked against the source
- Factual language, no superlatives, no alarmism
- Every recommendation – include or omit – with reasons
- A change of content resets an entry to “open”
- Who decides
- The editorial team.
- How you can tell
- Status “checked” on the entry.
Step 4 · Release
Released first, then visible.
Only named reviewers, signed in with their SAFETEE account via Microsoft, may publish. Every decision is logged with time, person and reasons. An issue freezes the state; later corrections appear as a visible addendum.
- Four-eyes principle: review and release separated
- “Reviewer” role in Microsoft Entra, no shared password
- Append-only log, exportable as PDF and CSV
- Corrections as an addendum, never silent overwriting
- Who decides
- A named reviewer.
- How you can tell
- Release date on the entry, addenda labelled.
Step 5 · Currency
What was true yesterday is checked again.
The radar is a living situation report. Entries are carried over to the next issue – but not forever. From a certain age the system creates check and deletion suggestions; the editorial team decides on each one.
- After 90 days: check suggestion
- Incidents after 180 days, everything after 365 days: deletion suggestion
- Evaluated forecasts move to the archive
- Historical comparisons remain permanently
- Who decides
- The editorial team.
- How you can tell
- “Checked as of” date on the entry.
Labels in the radar
You can always see how sure we are.
- Checked
Checked by the editorial team and released; at least one primary source.
- Single source
Only one source so far. Published with this label because it is relevant.
- Unchecked
News ticker from official feeds, shown in real time without editorial review.
- Addendum
Correction to a published issue, with date and reason.
- Beta
New area in test operation, e.g. sentiment and history.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked.
What is the situation scan?
An automated run that searches official sources such as police reports, federal warnings, Federal Network Agency notices and the Bundestag documentation system several times a day. It pre-sorts and suggests entries. Nothing is published without review and release by the editorial team.
Does an AI decide what is in the radar?
No. Language models support pre-sorting, summarising and translating and must justify every suggestion. Whether an entry is included, changed or omitted is decided by people in the editorial team; only a named reviewer may publish.
What does “single source” mean?
The report is so far based on only one source. We still publish it if it is relevant to the situation and label it clearly. As soon as a second, independent source is available, the label is removed.
What happens if an entry was wrong?
Published issues are not silently overwritten. The editorial team adds a correction as a visible addendum with date and reason; the log shows who changed what and when.
Next
And how does that become a forecast?
Questions about the radar: radar@safetee.eu