Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
This short BBC News article is cited here in full: A lie detector test carried out on employees at Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s office has produced an embarrassing 20% failure rate. The FBI-administered test was designed to root out corruption, including involvement in drugs trafficking or guerrilla and paramilitary groups. Employees have complained that the test …
USA Today technology writer Andrew Kantor comments on polygraphs in his weekly CyberTalk column. Excerpt: I learn a lot watching television. That is, I learn a lot by watching television and thinking, “That can’t be right!” then doing the research to find the full story. Television butchers technology. It has to. There’s no time in …
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy comments in his Secrecy News e-mail publication: A REJOINDER ON POLYGRAPH It is not correct to say that no spy has ever been caught as a result of polygraph testing. John F. Sullivan, who served as a CIA polygrapher for 31 years, wrote …
Jonathan Knight reports in the news section of the journal Nature, Vol. 428, p. 243. This short article is cited here in full: A national security expert says he was forced to resign last year because of his vocal opposition to the use of lie detectors at his nuclear weapons lab. Alan Zelicoff, formerly a …
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy comments in his Secrecy News e-mail publication: THE POLYGRAPH VS. NATIONAL SECURITY As a technology for counterintelligence security screening, the polygraph has been a spectacular failure. It is hard to recall the last time that polygraph screening uncovered an actual spy, and easy …
Geoff Pender reports for the Sun Herald: JACKSON – A bill before the House would more clearly give law enforcement officers permission to use the latest in “lie detector” technology. Many police departments in Mississippi, including Biloxi’s, already use computerized voice stress analysis equipment, instead of the older Polygraph machines, for hiring interviews and questioning …
Frank Munger reports for the Knoxville News Sentinel: OAK RIDGE – The detection of deception. A little-known research group in Oak Ridge is developing an alternative to polygraphs, using subtle temperature changes on a person’s face to tell if he or she is lying. Early results are promising. “We believe this technology that we have …
The Chicago Tribune reports in an article titled, “CEO pleads guilty to export charge”: The chief executive officer of a suburban manufacturer and the company itself pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Chicago to trying to export polygraph machines to China without a license. Lavern Miller, 79, the CEO and chairman of Stoelting Co. …
Mary Flood reports for the Houston Chronicle, providing details of indicted ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s polygraph “test”: Jeff Skilling’s lawyers proudly told a mass of media Thursday morning that the ex-CEO had passed a lie detector test but prosecutors indicted him anyway. Lawyers Bruce Hiler and Daniel Petrocelli later said they even told prosecutors the …
CNN.com reports in an article titled, “Skilling: two tales of one man” that the indicted former CEO of the company whose name has become synonymous with corporate fraud passed a lie detector “test.” Excerpt: Daniel Petrocelli, Skilling’s lawyer, accused the government of making his client a “scapegoat,” adding Skilling had done “nothing wrong.” Speaking to …