Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
AntiPolygraph.org has obtained a copy of the National Center for Credibility Assessment’s documentation of the polygraph screening technique “used by federal law enforcement agencies during the pre-employment process.” The 23-page document, dated 3 March 2016, provides instructions for administration of the so-called “Law Enforcement Pre-Employment Test” (LEPET), to which applicants for employment with such agencies …
AntiPolygraph.org has received a rather unpleasant letter from James D’Loughy, a lawyer representing NITV Federal Services, LLC (NITV), which markets a scientifically baseless voice-based lie detector called the “Computer Voice Stress Analyzer,” and its president, self-described “Renaissance Man” “Dr.” Charles Humble (who has not received a doctoral degree from any accredited institute of higher education). …
AntiPolygraph.org has published a set of documents concerning the San Diego Police Department’s polygraph practices. These documents, which date to 2017, focus primarily on pre-employment polygraph screening. The most notable document, titled “SDPD DLST Preemployment Script” instructs the polygraph operator how to conduct the “pre-test” procedure. “DLST” stands for “directed-lie screening test.” Directed-lie “control” questions …
In July 2018, the so-named National Institute for Truth Verification (NITV) of West Palm Beach, Florida, which markets a scientifically baseless lie detector called the Computer Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA), filed in Florida a federal lawsuit against competitor Dektor Corporation and its sole proprietor, Arthur Herring III, of Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. Dektor markets a similarly scientifically …
Longtime polygraph critic Doug Williams, himself a former police polygraph operator, is scheduled to testify as an expert witness against the admissibility of polygraph evidence in a New Mexico court hearing scheduled for 30 May 2019. Dr. Alan Vaughn Emamdee of Farmington, New Mexico faces an 11-count indictment for alleged sexual abuse of patients and …
Computer Voice Stress Analysis (CVSA) is a pseudoscientific “lie detector” marketed to government agencies by the so-named National Institute of Truth Verification (NITV) in West Palm Beach, Florida. Although NITV has admitted in court that “CVSA is not capable of lie detection,” in marketing its Emperor’s-new-clothes “technology,” it continues to claim that CVSA is “over …
In “An Eye-Scanning Lie Detector Is Forging a Dystopian Future,” Wired science writer Mark Harris investigates “EyeDetect,” a new scientifically unproven lie detector being hawked as a replacement for the old scientifically unproven polygraph. Converus Inc. of Lehi, Utah, which markets EyeDetect, claims without proof that it can detect lies with 86% accuracy. Mark Harris …
In “The Dangerous Junk Science of Vocal Risk Assessment,” Ava Kofman of The Intercept examines “Remote Risk Assessment,” a voice stress analysis application being marketed by AC Global Risk, a San Francisco-based company led by U.S. Marine Corps veteran Alexander Martin. The company characterizes Remote Risk Assessment as “a sophisticated system that uses unique voice …
The NSA (@NSAgov) has blocked AntiPolygraph.org (@ap_org) from following and viewing the NSA’s tweets: Curious about what may have prompted this action, we used Google to search twitter.com for matches including both “ap_org” and “NSAGov.” We found two replies that we posted to tweets the NSA made on 9 July 2018. Here is the first …
Wired has published a major investigative article on law enforcement’s use of pre-employment polygraph screening. In The Lie Generator: Inside the Black Mirror World of Polygraph Job Screenings, science/technology writer Mark Harris (@meharris on Twitter) reports based on, among other sources, data gleaned from numerous public record access law requests filed with police and sheriff’s …