SSS says facial verification secure, part of digitization efforts

The Social Security System (SSS) on Thursday said that the facial verification system it has launched for the Annual Confirmation of Pensioners (ACOP) requirement is safe and secure.

At an event at SSS Diliman, NCR North Division Vice President Fernando Nicolas said that the system is tied to the Philippine Identification System and had been in development over a year.

“Secure na secure [ang system] kasi ang partnership natin is with PhilSys. Yung PhilSys, definitely secure yung system nila at kung nakarehistro ka nga doon, ma-identify agad ni PhilSys na ito yung talagang pensioner. Yung identity mo, ma-establish agad natin. Mako-confirm natin na dapat ipagpatuloy ang pension mo… Real-time [ang process],” he said.

([The system] is very secure because our partnership is with PhilSys. PhilSys' system is definitely secure and if you are registered there, PhilSys can immediately identify that this really is the pensioner. Your identity can immediately be established. We can confirm that your pension may keep going… [The process] is in real-time.)

“Medyo matagal ang proseso [ng development]. Inabot natin isang taon kasi nagkaroon pa tayo ng pilot testing,” he added.

(The process [of development] took a bit longer. It took around one year because we had to do pilot testing.)

The facial verification system was earlier announced by SSS, allowing biometric liveness checks to confirm a pensioner’s identity through its website.

Nicolas said that as long as the beneficiary has a PhilSys ID, the system would be able to recognize them.

Nicolas added that the system still remains in the pilot testing stage to assess the need for possible improvements, but that the results of the testing had been good so far.

Meanwhile, he called on SSS beneficiaries to embrace their new digitization efforts for their own ease and convenience.

“Halos lahat ng services namin nasa online. Yung nga ang pakiusap namin at request namin sa ating mga miyembro i-embrace yung in-introduce nating online facilities… Para hindi na sila pumunta dito sa SSS office, hindi na sila mamasahe, hindi na sila maabala. Doon lang sa kanilang cellphone, sa kanilang computer, sa bahay, sa opisina, makaka-transact na sila sa SSS using our online facilities,” he added.

(Almost all of our services are now online. That is our request for our members, to embrace the online facilities we’ve introduced… So that they no longer have to go to the SSS Office, they no longer have to commute, they no longer have to be bothered. They can just stay on their cellphones, computers, homes, offices, and they can transact with SSS using our online facilities.) — BM, GMA Integrated News