NSA and the warm, fuzzy polygraph

[patchbunny]

NSA video tries to dispel fear about polygraph use during job interviews
By Gautham Nagesh - 06/14/10 09:44 AM ET

The National Security Agency has posted a video online explaining how it uses polygraphs to screen job candidates in an attempt to ease the fears of potential applicants.

The video, titled "The Truth About Polygraphs" depicts interviews with several subjects discussing their experiences taking the polygraph, also commonly referred to as a lie detector. Polygraph examiners in the video argue there is a great deal of misinformation surrounding the practice and attempt to dispel some of the fear and apprehension surrounding the test.

The video uses interviews with former applicants, polygraph examiners and NSA employees to make the process seem less threatening. It also uses humor via short clips from TV shows and movies like "The Simpsons" and "Meet the Parents".

[snip]

The video is available here, but I can't seem to get it to load.

****

I have to wonder how many potential candidates the NSA is losing if they feel the need to make a video such as this?

 

[shadron]

Agencies who use polygraph have an awful track record for firing employees that can't pass, for whatever reason, a likely every-5-year retest. In one project I was in an unnamed agency lost three management level engineers who refused to take the testing after two flunked it for unknown reasons. It is like a roll of the dice every now and then to see if you get to come in tomorrow.

 

[James Fox]

Given the known inaccuracies of the test I imagine the engineers knew they were not likely to perform any better on the next test. Some of the biggest spies of the past forty years regularly passes polygraph tests and about the only reason law enforcement uses them is as grand theatre to create a perception of the complete accuracy of the test to get suspects to confess. Really that’s all law enforcement wants from a polygraph is a confession, not a pass or fail test score.

 

[George Maschke]

I've posted a video commentary on the NSA polygraph video, along with relevant links, here:

http://antipolygraph.org/blog/?p=482