Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
In his statement regarding his signing of H.R. 4205, the “Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001,” Mr. Clinton writes: …I am deeply disappointed that the Congress has taken upon itself to set greatly increased polygraph requirements that are unrealistic in scope, impractical in execution, and that would be strongly counterproductive …
Walter Pincus of the Washington Post reports: Rejecting pleas from Energy Department officials, Congress has approved a provision that will require polygraphs for 5,000 additional employees of the department’s nuclear weapons complex, raising to near 20,000 the overall number that will be tested. The new language, part of the fiscal 2001 defense authorization bill that …
In an article entitled “Government Facing Charges of Racism,” San Jose Mercury News correspondent Lenny Savino reports on five cases of alleged ethnic profiling by FBI, CIA, and DoD counterintelligence officials. Polygraphy figures prominently in four out of five of the cases discussed. For more on the case of David Tenenbaum, which features prominently in …
Steven Aftergood reports in today’s edition of the electronic newsletter Secrecy News: POLYGRAPH HELL AT THE NATIONAL LABORATORIES In its mad pursuit of a misconceived ideal of “security,” Congress has quietly imposed broad new polygraph testing requirements on Energy Department employees and contractors. Subtle changes adopted in the conference on the defense authorization bill will …
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy reports in today’s edition of the electronic newsletter Secrecy News that House-Senate conferees have approved legislation that severely limits the Secretary of Energy’s authority to grant polygraph waivers. The following is an excerpt (emphasis added): DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL BOOSTS SECRECY The House-Senate conference …
Lincoln Wright of the Canberra Times reports that ASIO officers “will be the first to undergo a new trial of lie-detector tests after the Howard Government endorsed a report recommending tougher rules to fix leaks of national security secrets.” Australia should learn from America’s mistakes, not repeat them.