Feds expand polygraph screening, often seeking intimate facts
Source: McClatchy Newspapers
She was one of the brightest students at a leading university when the Central Intelligence Agency offered her a job as a counter-terrorism analyst. But first, the 19-year-old was warned, she had to undergo a polygraph test to determine whether she could be trusted.
Instead of scrutinizing her ability to guard government secrets, polygraphers asked about her reported rape and miscarriage, the woman recalled. Over at least eight hours in three separate sessions, polygraphers repeatedy demanded to know her innermost thoughts, even after she started sobbing in shame.
... Last year, more than 73,000 Americans across the country submitted to polygraph tests to get or keep jobs with the federal government, although such screening is mostly banned in the private sector and widely denounced by scientists. Many of the screenings probably aren’t as harsh as the CIA applicant described, but polygraphers at a growing number of U.S. agencies are asking employees and applicants questions about their personal lives and private thoughts in the name of protecting the country from spies, terrorists or corrupt law enforcement officers.
... A McClatchy reporter, however, spoke to veteran polygraphers from a wide array of agencies who described how they often rely on their own instincts and experiences to determine the relevance of a topic, comparable to a skillful police interrogation of a criminal suspect. Some polygraphers, for instance, think that asking someone about being raped could be legitimate in certain circumstances. Others disagreed.
“Where is the line? That depends on the polygrapher and the agency,” said John Sullivan, a retired CIA polygrapher of more than three decades. “It can be a slippery slope. At a certain point, the government can justify almost anything.”
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/06/176313/feds-expand-polygraph-screening.html
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