# Presentation: 041592

## Biometrics at the Philippine Social Security System

## Agenda

- About SSS
- Biometrics in SSS
- Issues in sharing of biometrics among government agencies
- Future Plans

## About SSS*

**Social Insurance established in 1957**
**27.2 Million Members served by 4,109 Employees **
**Assets: US$ 6.042 Billion****
**Member Contributions: US$ 1.508 Billion****
**Investments & Other Income: US$ 435.8 Million****
**Benefits Disbursed: US$ 1.48 Billion****
**Operating Expenses:  US$ 166 Million****

**** * Exchange rate at 1US$ = Php 41.00***

**** December 2007 SSS-Management Information System Data***

**Notes:**
The Social Security System (SSS) was established in 1957 through the Philippine Republic Act 1161. It is a government-owned & controlled corporation responsible for the management of the pension fund for private sector workers. In addition to the retirement pension benefit, the SSS is giving cash allowance for loss of income due to sickness and maternity. It also gives disability and survivors pension. It also provides a salary loan and corporate loan program for member employees and employers. 

Currently, the SSS has a membership of 27.2 million workers and an employee workforce of more than 4,000 employees stationed in 130 branch offices in the Philippines and 14 foreign offices. 

As of end 2007, the SSS has a total asset of $ 6.042 billion. Its revenues for 2007 came from member contributions amounting to $ 1.508 billion and investment income of $435.8 million. 

For the same year, the SSS disbursed a total of $1.46 billion for old-age pension, sickness & maternity and disability benefits to 2.08 million workers and pensioners.  

The SSS’ total operating expenses for 2007 is $166 million. These include expenses for building maintenance, office space rental, computer system maintenance, telecommunication expenses, depreciation expenses, supplies & materials and salaries & wages. The SSS is allowed by law to spend only 12% of contributions collected and 3% of investment income.     

## SSS Branches

**Notes:**
The 144  SSS offices are connected through a wide area network, enabling remote offices to access and use the information stored in a central database. Foreign offices are connected via the Internet ensuring continuous connectivity and access to information. Almost a million transactions are received from members including application for benefits and loans, posting of contributions, receiving of payments and request for change of information. 

The SSS ID System uses the existing network infrastructure to send enrollment data from remote offices to the ID Center at the SSS Main Office for 1-to-many AFIS matching and printing of the SS cards. A daily average of more than 5,000 enrollment applicants are processed by the ID System.     

## Biometrics in SSS

- Implemented in 1998
- Integrated system awarded to Ayala Systems/Sagem/Polaroid consortium
- AFIS HW/SW
- 254 fixed and 20 mobile capture work stations
- Polaroid Teslin Card production system
- On-Serts card packaging system
- Live fingerprint capture of 10.8 million SSS members
- Total of 10.4 million biometric cards issued

**Notes:**
The SSS implemented its ID System in 1998 with the following basic components : 
1) Central AFIS - Sagem
2) Enrollment stations - IBM hardware with Sagem software
3) Card production - Polaroid &,  
4) Mailing & packaging - On-Serts System. 

The central AFIS is based on biometrics fingerprints. It is capable of matching 23,000  records a day against a projected database population of 35 million. The two index fingers (left & right) are enrolled and used in the matching. The matching algorithm uses binning based on the sex of the applicant (male or female). To verify the integrity of the database, a cold search will be employed and suspect records will be subject to investigation. As of to date, the cold search audit has not yet been done on the existing database. 

As of end 2007, the SSS has issued 10.4 million SS cards and has stored and maintained fingerprints for 10.8 million members.     

## SSS Biometrics Card

**Notes:**
The basic information reflected in the SS card are as follows:
1) The Philippine flag - tricolor
2) Country  - Republic of the Philippines
3) The name of issuing organization - Social Security System
4) Member name
5) SS number
6) Member date of birth
7) Member signature
8) Member facial photo
9) Hologram of member facial photo
10) The fingerprint minutiae printed in 2D barcode
11) Name & signature of the SSS President & CEO

At the back of the card is a magnetic stripe containing the SS number, Name and Personal Identification Number (PIN). 

## SSS 1:Many AFIS Workflow

**Quality**
**Control**
**(Low Quality)**

**Batch **
**Import**

**Good**
**Quality**
**FP?**

**Yes**

**No**

**1:Many**
**Matching**

**Suspect**
**Match?**

**No**

**Yes**

**Fraud/**
**Validation**

**Card**
**Generation**
**Requests**

**Transmit**
**Enrollment**
** ****records**

**Produce,**
**Package & **
**Mail cards**

**START**

**Enroll**
** ****SSS member**

***SSS Branches***

***SSS ID Card Center***

***SSS Members***

**Notes:**
The SSS AFIS workflow starts at enrollment of the members at the remote branch office. The following information are captured: 
1) two index fingers 
2) facial photo 
3) signature and,
4) PIN. 
Before capture will proceed, online verification of the SS number and name of the applicant is done against the SSS registration database. The fingerprint minutiae are extracted at enrollment. A quality check of the captured data is done at enrollment. 

At end of day, the captured data are sent by batch to the ID center via the network for 1-to-many matching at the central AFIS.  Before matching, a quality check is again done. 

The AFIS has the following functional specifications:
1) Maximum False Acceptance Rate - 1/10 of 1% of enrollees
2) Maximum False Rejection Rate - 5% of enrollees. 
3) Suspect duplicate records must be referred to investigation for manual verification

Records with good match are sent to the card production module for printing. Printed cards are packaged and mailed via postal service. 
Suspect records are further investigated for possible fraud. 

## AFIS “Hits”

**Notes:**
This is an actual case of an individual who enrolled twice with different names, SS numbers and address. The AFIS identified a positive match based on the fingerprint minutiae matching.  

## AFIS “Hits”

## AFIS “Hits”

## AFIS “Hits”

## AFIS “Hits”

******

_***Savings in Fraud detection/prevention***__*** ***_

***Savings from Fraud Detection and Prevention***
**Benefit claims cancelled by the SSS Anti-Fraud Department due to double claims using different SS numbers starting the year 2004 up to the present.**
**Close to 6,000 fraudulent cases have yet to be investigated but may bring as much as $ 26.80 million in savings if at least half of these are erroneous pension payments.**

**Notes:**
The actual savings as a result of the positive identification through biometrics fingerprint matching of double claims by individuals amounts to $ 145,617.00 .  This is based on 32 cases wherein their benefit claims were actually cancelled based on the biometrics information detection by the AFIS. 

The projected savings of $183,804.00 was computed on the total amount of benefit that would have been paid until age 75 if the fraudulent cases were not detected. 

Since the start of the ID System,  6,000 cases were referred to investigation for further verification. A savings of $ 26.8 million from pension payments is projected, If  half of these cases are found to be fraudulent.     

## USABILITY OF BIOMETRICSSSS 1:1 Biometrics Validation Workflow

**Start **
**(Scan 2-D Barcode **
**of SS Card and Do 1:1 matching**
**of fingerprint)**

*Annual Confirmation of Pensioners Program (ACOP)*

*SS Card PIN Change*

**Notes:**
In the initial implementation of the SS ID System in 1998, the priority group to be enrolled are the existing pensioners. The SS cards issued to the pensioners are used to verify their identity when they comply with the annual confirmation program. This ensures that pensions are paid to the right beneficiaries. The pensioner’s fingerprint are matched with the fingerprint minutiae in the SS card. This is done through the 1-to-1 matching device in the enrollment station. 

The SS card is also used by members to access their member records from self-service information terminals. To access their records, the member is required to swipe their card and enter the PIN. 

For PIN maintenance, the members are subjected to 1-to-1 matching of the minutiae in the SS card and the live fingerprint scan. Only a positive match can enable the member to change the PIN.   

## USABILITY OF BIOMETRICSSSS 1:1 Frontend Biometrics Validation WorkflowSocial Security Services Portal System

**Start **
**(Scan 2-D Barcode **
**of SS Card and Do 1:1 matching**
**of fingerprint)**

**SS Portal choices are: Loans, Contributions,**
**Sickness, Maternity, Disability, Retirement, and**
**Member’s Update (E4)**

**Eligible**

**Proceed with **
**respective existing**
**SSS application**
**system**

**Not Eligible**

**System-generated**
**Acknowledgment Receipt**
**issued to member**
**bearing the transaction**
**status**

**Social Security Services Portal System**

- USABILITY OF BIOMETRICSSSS 1:1 Frontend Biometrics Validation WorkflowSocial Security Services Portal System

**Notes:**
Another biometrics application that will be implemented this year for frontline operations is the Social Security Services Portal System. The System will be used  at the service counters in all branch offices. Members applying for benefits, loans and request for data change will be required to present their SS Cards. 

The applicant’s fingerprint is scanned and matched with the fingerprint minutiae in the SS card. With a positive match, the Portal System automatically retrieves the applicant’s records from the database. 

No paper forms will be required from the applicant since the Portal System shows the applicant’s eligibility for a benefit or loan. With the applicant’s identity already verified by biometrics matching, the service counter personnel can easily approve or deny the member’s application using the electronic form of the Portal System. An acknowledgement receipt will be printed as proof of application.

## Footprint of enrollment stations - requires big space allocation
Limitation in the model/brand of enrollment station peripherals
Fingerprints that are hard to capture and perform 1-t0-1 matching
Small network bandwith 
Local presence of AFIS provider 

- Limitation in the model/brand of enrollment station peripherals
- Fingerprints that are hard to capture and perform 1-t0-1 matching
- Small network bandwith
- Local presence of AFIS provider

- USABILITY OF BIOMETRICSInitial Implementation Issues

**Notes:**
The SSS encountered several issues in the initial implementation of the ID System. The first-generation enrollments stations in 1998 required bigger office space because the analog camera requires distance in capturing the facial photo. It also requires a specific lighting background. The 19-inch terminal display is so big,  enough to occupy much space in the operator’s workstation. This issue will be resolved by upgrading the technology being used in the enrollment stations. The use of the latest digital camera and notebook computers or LCD displays will solve the space problem. 
Another implementation issue is the limitation of model/brand of enrollment peripherals. This created problems in sourcing replacement parts for defective peripherals. 
There are also enrollees with hard to scan/capture fingerprints and perform 1-to-1 matching. These are the farmers, fishermen and laborers considering the nature of their work, have fingerprints that are hard to capture. The workaround was to select alternative fingers that are acceptable for scanning instead of the index finger.
At the time of initial implementation, majority of remote branches were connected only with 19.2 kbps bandwidth.  Large files of photo, fingerprints and signature cannot be transferred via the network. The workaround was to send the files in diskette/CD format through the courier service.
Another issue is the need for local presence of the AFIS provider. The AFIS provider has to to tie-up with a local company to provide support. Being the pioneer in biometrics system implementation, the SSS experienced a high learning curve to ensure a successful implementation.
Technology transfer requires time and resources to enable local providers and the SSS to support and maintain operations. At present, the SSS is negotiating with its foreign-based AFIS provider for the maintenance of the AFIS through a local representative.   

## Biometrics use with other Government Agencies

- Executive Order 420
- Unified Multipurpose ID (UMID)
- Participating agencies include SSS, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth), National Economic Development Agency (NEDA), National Statistics Office (NSO) Home Develpment Mutual Fund, Commission on Information & Communications Technology (CICT)
- Executive Order 700
- Amending EO 420
- SSS as lead agency in UMID

**Notes:**
Recent government regulations such as Executive Orders 420 and 700 mandate government agencies to issue a Unified Multi-purpose ID (UMID) to their constituents. The government agencies are the following:
1) SSS - contributory pension fund for the private sector workers, 
2) Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) - contributory pension fund for government workers
3) Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) - contributory health insurance program for SSS & GSIS members. Indigent citizens and their dependents are also covered through the funding of local government units
4) National Statistics Office - organization maintaining the citizens birth records
5) Home Development Mutual Fund
6) The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and,
7) Commission on Information and Communications Technology. 

EO 700 amending EO 420 made the SSS as the lead agency in the implementation of the UMID considering its experience in issuing the SS cards and its  pioneering AFIS implementation.  

The objective of the UMID is to issue only one card to each citizen. The UMID card will be used in transacting with the government and all its attached agencies such as the SSS.  It also aims  to generate savings by  eliminating the issuance of  other cards by different government agencies to their common constituents.  

## Proposed UMID Architecture

**Smart Card**
** ****Reader 1**

**(AGENCY 1)**

**(AGENCY 2)**

**Smart Card**
** ****Reader 2**

**Notes:**
The proposed UMID card is based on smart card technology with an open systems-based interface such as Java. It can store the basic information about the citizen including the fingerprint minutiae and the facial biometrics. 
Agencies can store agency-specific applications on the card. The card must be secured requiring biometrics 1-to-1 matching of fingerprints to access the stored information in the card. 
Applications are also secured requiring agency specific security encryption keys for access. 

The issuance of the UMID card requires one-to-many biometrics matching validation and verification of citizen information. This will ensure that no individual will get more than one card. 

Valid records are issued with a unique Common Reference Number (CRN) which will be used by the agencies as common access identifier in their databases.  

## Biometrics use with other Government Agencies

- Need for agreement on the following:
- Funding for the ID Costs of citizens not in member agencies database
- Biometrics & non-biometrics data flow between participating agencies
- Standard policies and architecture in the smart card implementation

**Notes:**
A major issue in the implementation of the UMID is the source of funding. The cost of setting up the infrastructure to issue UMID cards to all citizens is enormous. This includes the set-up of the central biometrics center,  the citizen registry system, the card production facilities, communications network, supplies and materials, maintenance cost and administrative & wage expenses. This also includes the set-up of devices and applications in using the UMIND card for government transactions. 
The financing scheme being worked out is based on sharing of costs and resources among government agencies.  The cost sharing is based on membership. The SSS will issue cards to private sector workers including self-employed individuals and professionals while the GSIS will issue cards to government workers. 
Philhealth whose members are also SSS & GSIS members will only issue cards to indigent groups who are not members of the pension funds. Funding for indigent groups will come from taxes collected by the the national government and coursed through the local government units. 
In the setup of the infrastructure, the SSS being the pioneer agency in biometrics implementation will be the biometrics matching center. The NSO will set-up and maintain the Citizen Registry System. The card-issuing agencies will be the SSS, GSIS and Philhealth. The SSS will charge fees from agencies requesting for the biometrics matching while NSO will charge fees for the verification of citizen records and issuance of the Common Reference Number.  
The cost of communication linkage among agencies will be part of the fees to be charged by servicing agencies such as the SSS and NSO.  
Another proposal is to charge a percentage of the cost of producing  the UMID card to the citizen.  
The agencies must also agree on the policies and the architecture of the smart card to enable applications to be developed and implemented among any of the participating agencies”

## Future Plans

- For SSS
- AFIS enhancement
- Procurement of additional enrolment stations
- Upgrade to contactless smart card
- Compliance to UMID specifications

**Notes:**
The future plan of the SSS for its ID system is to upgrade and enhance the central AFIS to be compliant to the biometrics inter-operability standards and the UMID specifications. 

The SSS will also acquire additional and new enrollment stations to replace the decades-old technology deployed in the branch offices. This will vastly improve the level and quality of service by the branch offices in servicing enrollees. 

The SSS will upgrade its card production from the existing 2D-barcode based card to the contactless smart card technology. This is consistent with the proposed specifications of the UMID. 

## End of Presentation

**REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES**

***SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM***

**MARIO R. SIBUCAO**
**Vice President**
**MAC Program Management**

**7/F SSS Building**
**East Avenue, Diliman**
**Quezon City, Philippines 0800**

**Tel no:  (+632) 922-3286**
**E-mail: sibucaomr@sss.gov.ph**