I notice you didn't cite a source for your "codified phylosophy" on countermeasures. Your cite might have greater credibility if you did.
Since you appear to like the term "clear and present danger," the following quote from the
National Academy of Sciences could easily be interpreted as describing a "clear and present danger" to national security objects. The quote was from page 219 of the following report:
The Polygraph and Lie Detection.
Quote:Overconfidence in the polygraph--a belief in its accuracy not justified by the evidence--presents a danger to national security objectives.
Regarding your "codified phylosophy" of countermeasures, can you elaborate on what "ideal circumstances" might be?
If you are using a test to monitor the behavior of sex offenders, and under "ideal circumstances" that test can be successfully rendered pointless by someone using countermeasures, isn't the continued use of that test the actual "clear and present danger" to the community?
As already mentioned, George did not invent the information on this site. All of it was freely available to anyone who chose to look for it.
You can't un-ring the bell and make knowledge of the polygraph go away. And no reasonable person should be looking to blame someone for that knowledge being available. If you are relying on a test that requires a subject's ignorance in order to have any chance of success I submit you are using a flawed test to begin with.
The reliance of governmental agencies on the pseudoscience of the polygraph, which as you have already admitted can be defeated by countermeasures, is the truly negligent act here.
Information on countermeaures has been available probably since the first polygraph was used. The only difference is now it is more widely available than before.
Prior to this widespread dissemination of countermeasure techniques, I would imagine that examiners
hoped their subjects did know know anything about the testing procedure and how to obviate it. They couldn't tell for sure then any more than they can now, but they could reassure themselves that such knowledge was relatively rare. Now, they cannot.
So, please, if you are able... Explain the threat that the use of countermeasures presents. And, if you are able, explain why the fact that information on countermeasures exists is more to blame than the simple fact that you are relying on a test that can be successfully obviated (by your own admission) by someone with Internet access.