Banks, Councils and Universities Can Read Your Social Security Declarations Online Instead of on Paper, but Only Once You Approve

Banks, councils, universities and companies that need proof of your Social Security record no longer have to wait for you to download, print and hand over a declaration. Segurança Social (Social Security) announced on Thursday, 8 October, that people can give a third party permission to consult their Social Security declarations directly, through the Portal da Segurança Social (Social Security Portal, known as Segurança Social Direta) or the Social Security app. Nothing is shared without your approval, and you decide how long the access lasts.

The notice from the Instituto de Informática (Social Security's IT institute) presents it as a paperless system that makes it unnecessary to download, print or send paper documents. In its words, the model ensures that the citizen is always the one in control of access.

Two ways it works

When an organisation asks. If a bank, a council, a university or a company requests access to one of your declarations, you are notified straight away in your private area on the portal or the app. The consultation only becomes active once you expressly approve it.

When you share first. You can also give permission in advance, before anyone asks. The notice sets out three steps on the portal:

1. Go to Declarações (Declarations) > Pedir e gerir acesso a declarações (Request and manage access to declarations), click "Dar nova autorização" (Give new authorisation), and enter the recipient's NIF (tax number) or NISS (Social Security number) and the purpose.
2. Choose the declaration you want to share from the list and continue.
3. In the list of authorisations, click the three dots next to the declaration marked "Aguarda autorização" (Awaiting authorisation), select "Emitir documento e autorizar" (Issue document and authorise), set the date until which access is valid, and confirm with "Autorizar acesso" (Authorise access).

To approve requests, grant new access or check what is active, the notice gives two routes. On the portal, open your Perfil (Profile) and follow Declarações > Declarações a pedido (Declarations on request). In the app, go to the menu, then Declarações > Gerir acesso a declarações (Manage access to declarations). The menu names in the step-by-step and in the summary differ slightly, so look for either label if the first one is not where you expect it.

What you control

• An expiry date. Every permission carries a period you set yourself. When it ends, access expires automatically.
• Revocation at any time. You can see the list of active permissions and withdraw any of them, which cuts off the organisation's access immediately.
• A stated purpose. When you authorise in advance, you name the recipient by its NIF or NISS and say what the access is for.

Who it could help

Anyone who has been asked for proof of their work record or benefit status knows the routine: log in, download a PDF, then email or print it for whoever asked. The portal's help pages list the declarations it already issues for download, including a contributory record by year and month (declaração de carreira contributiva por ano e mês), proof of unemployment status and of unemployment benefit, proof of family benefits, pensioner status, and proof of sickness and parental benefit.

For immigrants, the contributory record is often the document that shows a work history in Portugal, the kind of proof a bank or a company may ask to see. Being able to grant access to the organisation itself, for a fixed period, saves a step and leaves a record of who was allowed to look. Social Security moved three further declarations into the app in August, as we reported at the time, and this change builds on that shift away from counters and paper.

What is not yet clear

• Which declarations can be shared. The notice does not list them. It is not confirmed that every declaration you can download can also be shared this way.
• Which organisations are taking part. The notice gives banks, councils, universities and companies as examples, but does not say how an organisation signs up to send requests, or name any that already do.
• Public bodies such as AIMA (Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum) and the tax authority. Nothing in the notice says they use this channel for residence or tax procedures. Until they say so, keep following the document instructions each body gives you.
• Landlords. The notice does not mention private landlords, so it is not known whether a landlord who rents as an individual, rather than through a company, can receive access.

This is a consent-based system, which sets it apart from the separate once-only bill now before Parliament, under which public bodies would fetch documents from one another without asking for your consent. Downloading a declaration yourself, under Declarações > Consultar declarações (View declarations), is still available.

Before you use it

You need working access to Segurança Social Direta. The portal uses two-factor authentication: once it is activated, each login needs a single-use code sent to your email or mobile phone, valid for one minute. Its help page confirms that a foreign mobile number can be registered if you enter the country code.

Approve only requests you were expecting, from an organisation you recognise, and do it from inside the portal or the app. In September Social Security warned of fraudulent emails sent in its name asking people to update or confirm their details, and told users to reach it only through its official channels and never to enter passwords or authentication codes on pages opened from such messages. Set the shortest expiry date that does the job, and check your list of active permissions now and then: anything you no longer need can be revoked in a few taps.