Overview of Social Security Access in the Digital Era
A scenario unfolds where an elderly man seeks a housekeeper or another person wants to end his stay because he will live with his son. A deceased woman and her daughter confirm that she continues to sense the event. A widow contemplates cancelling a pension, yet the person involved is not her daughter. Meanwhile, a vulnerable family faces social exclusion but remains eligible for the Minimum Vital Income (IMV). A retiree questions which regulatory base applies to his situation. A mother aims to assign her newborn to a pediatrician while another women wrestles with maternity leave needs.
People who have needed to complete Social Security procedures since the public offices closed to the public years ago know the harsh truth: the only sure route to free benefits is to hire a professional to manage the process. Users, unions, and now labor professionals criticize an automated system that denies in-person assistance and creates legal uncertainty.
The government pressed banks to financially include the elderly and ensure service continuity in Spain, even as offices close and face-to-face support for seniors becomes scarce. The result is a growing concern about Social Security. Over-the-counter service has vanished for years, and the digital gap widens just as it does in banking.
Citizens can no longer enter the offices of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) or the General Treasury of Social Security (TGSS); offices are now virtual and procedures feel bureaucratic.
This so-called “hidden privatization” of Social Security pushes users toward paid labor professionals for free help, while delays stretch retirement, widower pensions, maternity benefits, and the IMV. Complaints rise from users and from professionals who must continuously take courses just to keep up with how to file or resolve doubts that an employee would have addressed at a counter.
Business professionals (lawyers, social media specialists, business consultants) cannot access offices in person. In response, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration created Casia, an online communication platform designed to connect professionals with public administrations for day-to-day management.
Industry professionals lament the lack of face-to-face attention, arguing that it creates legal vulnerability for users and for those who work in the sector. One lawyer from a Valencia-based firm, Rubén Molina, points out that banks are expected to engage directly with clients, while the administration pushes digital-only processes that appear to undervalue personal interaction. He says it is hard to understand how the system has come to rely so entirely on digital records without preserving human contact.
During the early stages of the pandemic, a formal complaint was filed with the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, criticizing changes in labor law accompanied by broad digitization, a reduced civil service workforce, and a ban on face-to-face meetings. The complaint highlighted harms to citizens, workers, business owners, and self-employed individuals. As the digital divide widens, the complaint awaits resolution.
The CSIF union (Independent Union Center and Authorities) has criticized the obligation to pay in order to access benefits. It argues that union members do not receive wages from the labor sector for remote services and still must be paid for their work, effectively outsourcing civil service tasks to private professionals and creating a perception of paid advocacy for routine public duties.
As Molina explains, there are many instances in which professionals provide free work out of a sense of duty, yet charging for essential tasks like managing the IMV undermines the spirit of public service. He emphasizes that many vulnerable seniors and disabled individuals must obtain a digital certificate to access services, which can be a barrier when resources are limited. The cost of digitization falls on the most vulnerable, and the issue is compounded by a perceived decline in the availability of direct, personal assistance.
In parallel, changes to how civil service duties are staffed mean fewer frontline workers and a perception that the public sector is shrinking. The ongoing growth of digital services is not matched by a corresponding improvement in accessibility for all citizens, particularly those without reliable internet access or digital literacy.