Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Chris Ingalls reports for KING5.com. Excerpt: SEATTLE – The polygraph promises to find the answer and that’s why it is widely used in Washington state to screen potential employees for high-security jobs. But there are new doubts about whether lie detectors really work. In today’s security-conscious environment, much of the tax money is used to …
Bob Park of the American Physical Society comments on Department of Energy polygraph policy in his weekly What’s New column: The National Academy of Sciences completed its review of scientific evidence on the polygraph (WN 15 Dec 00). The NAS report, “The Polygraph and Lie Detection” (NAS Press, 2003), found polygraph tests to be unacceptable …
The Albuquerque Tribune comments on the Energy Department’s decision to ignore the conclusions of the National Academy of Sciences regarding polygraph screening. Excerpt: It’s like the sequel to a goofy movie: “DOE – Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest.” Sometimes – even giving it the vast benefit of the doubt – the U.S. Department of Energy is infuriating …
Lisa Friedman of the Tri-Valley Herald Washington Bureau reports. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — Federal lawmakers and lab weapons scientists said Tuesday they are disappointed with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham for disregarding an 18-month, $800,000 study by the nation’s top scientists that found polygraph testing does not work. “It shows how bankrupt they are,” said Livermore thermonuclear …
John Fleck reports for the Albuquerque Journal. Excerpt: The Department of Energy wants to continue polygraphs to hunt for spies, bucking a report from federal science advisers who said the technique is flawed. In a notice published Monday, the department announced it wants to keep its polygraph program, which screens nuclear weapons workers in a …
Los Alamos Monitor assistant editor Roger Snodgrass reports. Excerpt: The Department of Energy has rejected the results of an $870,000 study by the National Research Council on the validity of polygraph tests for screening national security risks. DOE said that unless something unexpected arises from public comments, it will continue its current program as is. …
Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico criticizes the Department of Energy’s decision to continue its reliance on polygraph screening: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: CHRIS GALLEGOS APRIL 14, 2003 (202) 224-7082 DOMENICI: DOE WORRIES SHOULDN’T MEAN CONTINUATIONOF FLAWED POLYGRPAH POLICY WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Pete Domenici today questioned the Department of Energy intention to continue heavy reliance on …
The Associated Press reports in this story published in the Washington Times. Excerpt: The Energy Department decided yesterday to continue using polygraph tests to protect the nation’s nuclear-arms stockpile, despite a scientific study that found severe shortcomings in the tests’ accuracy. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the department must use the best tools available to …
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy discusses the National Academy of Science’s polygraph report in his Secrecy News e-mail publication: DOE TO REISSUE UNALTERED POLYGRAPH REGS In a remarkable testament to the stubbornness of the security bureaucracy and its resistance to external criticism, the Department of Energy is proposing …
Noted skeptic James Randi comments on polygraphy in this week’s Swift newsletter: We’ve assailed the use of polygraph (“lie detector”) technology here, many times. It is simply an area of failed technology, one that seemed promising, but then proved to be not only faulty, but quite dangerous to those upon whom was inflicted. State and …