INSS resists passing data for revision of Bolsa Família – 02/22/2023 – Market

The Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger is waging a battle against the INSS (National Institute of Social Security) in an attempt to obtain the sharing of information on the payment of retirement benefits, pensions and other benefits.

The measure is necessary to optimize the updating of Single Registry records, the basis of programs such as Bolsa Família, as the income transfer program will be called again. Access to data maintained by the government itself in the Cnis (National Social Information Register) would allow the precise identification of families eligible for policies, avoiding undue payments.

The INSS, however, resists sharing the data in a systematic way on the grounds that they are confidential, according to reports and documents collected by the Sheet.

The body requires new legal opinions, despite the fact that AGU (Advocacy-General of the Union) and PGFN (Attorney-General of the National Treasury) have already manifested themselves in favor of the integration, as they understand that it does not violate the tax and data secrecy of the citizens.

The position of the INSS is supported despite the fact that sharing already exists, albeit in the form of a manual query.

The Cadastro Único Portal, a tool provided by Dataprev (a technology company of the federal government), already allows municipal managers to access the Cnis base —which holds records of social security, assistance and labor benefits, as well as information on remuneration and formal employment relationships .

According to the description on the official website, the social interviewer himself can view “detailed data on formal income for the last 12 months and information on social security benefits of registered citizens”.

The difference is that the social worker makes the consultations one by one, while assisting citizens who seek the Cras (Social Assistance Reference Centers). For this, a term of permission for access to the INSS databases was signed by states and municipalities, under the commitment to maintain secrecy. Queries are trackable.

The request made by the Ministry of Social Development is for there to be direct and automatic communication between the two databases —the so-called interoperability. This would avoid the mass call of families to update the registration at a time when the assistance network is already quite overloaded.

Initially, Cnis information would be downloaded and uploaded monthly to the Single Registry. From 2024, the idea is that the integration takes place in real time.

Minister Wellington Dias (Social Development) has already said that there is suspicion of irregularity in 2.5 million Bolsa Família benefits. The articulation between the databases could help in this investigation.

The matter was discussed at a meeting in January between representatives of the Ministry of Development
Social, INSS, Dataprev, Caixa (responsible for the Single Registry), Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services, ANPD (National Agency for Data Protection) and Federal Revenue Service.

The ministry responsible for Bolsa Família has had the support of government legal bodies. The assessment is that the integration does not violate tax secrecy, nor the precepts of the General Data Protection Law —which allows the shared processing of data, without the consent of the holder, whenever it is necessary for the execution of public policies provided for in laws or regulations.

Throughout the month of February, however, the INSS waved with new denials. According to reports, the ministry is considering calling the Civil House in search of a solution.

Sought this Wednesday (22), the INSS said that “there is no blockage in relation to the sharing of information” and that the terms “are being discussed internally between the technical teams of the two bodies and the others involved, since it is of sensitive data regulated by the LGPD”.

The MDS informed that it has sought integration with other databases to qualify the Single Registry information. The folder says that it has been using Cnis data since 2015, when a contract with Dataprev allowed periodic cross-referencing of the databases to detect divergences.

“What is intended as a new step in the evolution of the Single Registry is to make the systemic integration between the two databases, thus guaranteeing a greater and more effective qualification of income information”, he said.

The folder pointed out that it has a legal opinion “approving the integration proposal” and that it followed the guidelines of the ANPD on data protection and secrecy rules. “The ministry is in final talks with the INSS so that integration can take place,” he said.

The ANPD said it was not aware of the “interruption of sharing personal data of INSS beneficiaries”, but did not respond directly to the Social Development request. The AGU had directed the questions to the INSS.

Behind the scenes, technicians point to the backdrop of the dispute between Dataprev and Caixa to see who gets to manage the Single Registry.

In the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), the Ministry of Citizenship began a work of migrating the base of social programs to the Cnis environment, which means passing the baton from Caixa (which is remunerated for the function) to Dataprev. With the change of government, the fear is that the project will be interrupted.

The government’s assessment, however, is that sharing information is a previous step, since it is about improving the conditions for executing public policy.

The Cadastro Único serves as the basis for more than 30 federal programs aimed at low-income people. No wonder, the crossing of information is provided for in presidential decrees and in constitutional amendment 103, the pension reform, enacted in November 2019.

The amendment ordered the establishment of an integrated system, with information on remuneration, social security benefits, assistance, pensions and other income transfer programs, supplied not only by the Union, but also by states and municipalities.

At the end of 2021, the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) issued a determination for the government to implement the integration within a period of two years, until the end of 2023. In the judgment, the body pointed out that at least R$ 4.9 billions in installments of emergency aid unduly paid in 2020 could have been avoided if the system was already in full operation.

In the assessment of government legal bodies, the constitutional amendment “determines, and not just authorizes” the interaction between the databases to strengthen the management, governance and transparency of the Cadastro Único, which in itself already rules out any argument of violation of tax secrecy.

The qualification of income data in the Cadastro Único claimed by the ministry will make it possible to detect and correct any discrepancies and omissions — for example, if a family fails to declare the receipt of an INSS benefit in the hope of being able to join another government program.

“The action is a measure to update the income of registered people, without the need for them to be summoned and further burden the queues at the municipal service posts responsible for registration”, said the MDS in the justification for the request.

When registering new families, the social worker would be able to resort to information that is already in the government’s possession, saving time for citizens and attendants.

The MDS lists the measure as essential for “improving the focus of the Auxílio Brasil/Bolsa Família Program” and other public policies that use income as an access criterion, since “it allows families to be removed from these programs that do not meet the profile, while provides space for service to those who do justice to them”.

The goal is for the integration to be carried out as early as April. For this, however, it is necessary that the INSS authorize the sharing until the first week of March, so that the MDS can test the insertion of Cnis data in the Single Registry, avoiding errors.

SINGLE REGISTRATION NUMBERS (DEC/2022)

registered families

41.3 million

Families receiving Brazil Aid/Bolsa Família

21.9 million

Families with evidence of irregularity in the Aid Brazil/Bolsa Familia

2.5 million

UNDERSTAND THE IMPASSE

What is Single Registration?

• It is a database used in more than 30 federal social programs and that gathers information on low-income families, whose income is up to half a minimum wage per person or up to three minimum wages in total.

What is the Cnis (National Social Information Register)?

• It is a database that gathers information on Social Security beneficiaries and formal workers, including remuneration and employment relationships. The extract is used to grant pensions and sickness benefits, for example.

Are these databases integrated?

• Not until today. What exists is an authorization for individual consultation of information, according to demand. Still, there is no automated interaction of the data.