Facial Recognition to Prevent Fraud by Retirees Abroad

A decree has just authorized the use of a facial recognition system to verify that retirees living abroad are still alive, as a means of combating fraud.

The government is preparing to combat fraud involving the failure to report the death of an elderly person in order to continue receiving their retirement pension from the Cnav without authorization. Despite previous unsuccessful attempts to curb this type of fraud more than 10 years ago, the government now plans to use a static and dynamic facial recognition system to implement a “digital verification of life.”
 

When a retiree dies in France, the death is registered with the civil registry office of the retiree’s municipality of residence, the National Directory for the Identification of Natural Persons (RNIPP) managed by INSEE, and the National Identifier Management System (SNGI) maintained by the CNAV. For retirees residing abroad, reporting the death to the French consulate also triggers an update to the RNIPP and the SNGI, thereby automatically terminating benefit payments. However, fraud may occur if local authorities do not require the insured person to appear in person or if they are corrupt.
 

Currently, of the 1.2 million retirees living abroad, half reside in European Union countries where data is automatically exchanged with the Cnav. For the other 600,000 retirees living outside the EU, stricter controls will be put in place. A decree therefore authorizes Union Retraite to establish an automated processing system for personal data, enabling retirees living abroad to verify their identity using a system of static and dynamic facial recognition.
 

The new computer system called “Digitized Life Verification” will be used to allow old-age pension recipients to verify that they are still alive, thereby ensuring the continued payment of their retirement pensions. The application will verify the authenticity of the presented identification document, the consistency between the photographic and video images of the face, and the actual existence of the individual.
The personal data processed includes the beneficiary’s identity and contact information, electronic data extracted from the identification document—including the facial photograph—as well as photographic and video images of the identification document and the biometric templates necessary for comparison with the beneficiary’s facial photograph.
It is important to note that this method of proving one’s existence remains optional.