A quick scan of topics seems to indicate that I'm the one to break this story here.  Some government agencies in the UK are using voice stress analysis (VSA) on callers claiming government benefits, such as welfare and housing assistance, in an attempt to reduce fraud.  Cases which are flagged as indicating possible deception are followed up with more in-depth investigation.

Here is a link to a quick CNN video on the story which I recommend.

I find this interesting for a number of reasons.  First, the American Polygraph Association is a very harsh critic of voice stress technology, most particularly Computerized Voice Stress Analysis, a proprietary brand of voice stress analysis peddled by the "National Institute of Truth Verification" (NITV) a Florida-based company.  Indeed, they have a large collection of information about how inaccurate it is on their website and decry the fact that over 1400 American police departments use the technology.  There is, of course, a great deal of self interest in their position, since CVSA is often used in lieu of the polygraph: they figure the fewer departments that use CVSA the more that will use the polygraph, giving them more business.  Nonetheless, their collection of anti-cvsa information is possibly the best on the web.  Too bad they don't make available similarly good information that is pro-polygraph.

Second, the technology might be working.  No, I don't think it is reliably detecting deception, but that's not what it is supposed to be doing: it is supposed to be cutting down on fraud.  Before being connected with an operator, callers hear a recording that indicates that VSA is being used (and, I presume, touts it as highly accurate and indicates the stiff penalties of fraud).  In the CNN story linked to above, a government spokesman says that prior to using the technology, only 10% of callers reported a change in status that would decrease benefits (a new job, a new roommate to help pay bills, etc) but after implementation of the program, that number jumped to 35%.  Assuming that the 25% jump isn't accounted for by an upturn in the economy or normal seasonal variation, it might well be true that the VSA is cutting down on benefits fraud and saving taxpayers significant money.   

It would be interesting to have an impartial group examine the data to see if it actually is the case that the program is cutting down on government fraud and, if so, if the savings exceed the costs of implementing the program.  I suspect it will be hard to accomplish that, as the bureaucrats and VSA pushers will strongly resist doing so, since they risk losing money and power if the program is not found useful.

There are quite a few differences between this use of the VSA and the common use of the polygraph in this country, however.  There appear to be no real negative consequences for false positives (of which there are no doubt many) for benefits claimants beyond some inconvenience in providing additional records and information to investigators.  Also, it is not clear how much officials actually believe their own lies about the accuracy of the device.   One official said it detects deception "in excess of 95 per cent, if not higher," which I can't possibly imagine he actually believes.  So my impression is that they realize it's a crock, but a useful one for saving money.  If there is no pre-existing polygraph industrial complex in the UK and an existing polygraph culture, it is less likely that they believe the claims.  If they  keep in touch with reality, the dangers of the program are minimized.

I found a couple of other stories about this (try a google news search) but none provided more than a brief overview.  It'll be interesting to see if more information about this program comes out.

pailryder,

The primary threat to the survival of polygraphy--whether by law enforcement agencies or others--is not voice stress analysis in any of its flavors. Rather, that which most threatens the continuation of the fraudulent practice that you engage in for a living is an informed citizenry.

Pailryder,

But, because of the information provided on this website, more and more people subject to the test are becoming informed about the actual facts, and will be less affected by the petty, lame-ass intimidation that goes on in the typical preemployment test:

From "Positive and Negative Predictive Values of Polygraphs: Results from published 'field' studies"  by Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff, MD:
Quote:

The polygraph makes for a very poor screening or “random” test for deception. The reason is that in such contexts, the vast majority of people are honest (especially those applying for security clearances) so that a negative test result adds little to what one knows a priori. At the same time, failing to pass a polygraph vastly overestimates the likelihood that the subject is, in fact, being deceptive (or, alternatively, offers very little additional diagnostic information than chance alone.) The only exception to the latter conclusion is in the situation where a subject actually believes that the polygrapher (with or without using the tracings from the polygraph test) can divine deception and thus confesses on the spot. As knowledge of the inherent inaccuracies of the polygraph spreads, the probability that any intelligent or informed individual would harbor such beliefs will drop.

IOW, it's going to get harder and harder to BLUFF people into thinking they're being deceptive when actually they aren't!  And to elicit information from applicants they can later inflate to suit their own subjective opinion about the person's level of truthfulness.

TC

Mr Maschke,

I live among, value, engage with, and provide professional assessment services to an informed citizenry every day.  I have nothing to fear from any information on this or any other site.  I like your site and feel that on the whole you have been a positive force for the improvement of polygraph by pointing to out shortcomings we have until recently neglected to address.  I know you have made me a better examiner.  And as always. thank you for providing an open forum for the discussion of all views.

Man, check out the love fest here:

pailryder wrote on May 18^th, 2008 at 10:03pm:


sackett wrote on May 19^th, 2008 at 12:34am:


Next thing you know, George, they'll be putting you in for the Medal of Freedom!

Of course, in business, competition forces companies to improve their products or services or they go out of business.  While AntiPolygraph is not directly in competition with the polygraph, the effect is similar.  Nonetheless, pretty much every businessman or businesswoman would rather not have any competition so they could make more money with less work.

Quote:


Can you be a little more specific and provide us with some names of devotees "being caught".


TC

T.M. Cullen wrote on May 19^th, 2008 at 4:26am:


Nope.  I was just kidding.  The information on this website is so good, that we examiners never catch anybody using countermeasures...

Sorry for being so misleading Cullen.

Sackett

sackett wrote on May 19^th, 2008 at 3:50pm:

It is interesting (and somewhat hypocritical) that you judge the CVSA as not being accurate because some friends of yours claim to have lied and passed.

When people on this board offer their opinion based on essentially identical experiences with the polygraph (i.e. - telling the truth and failing) you decry their lack of expertise and mock the fact that they have the audacity to post an opinion based on nothing more than an alleged false positive or two.