Lie detectors

[tiggerblue10]

Are these reliable? If so, can / should they be used by the police / law courts?

[Ethel]

They are not 100% reliable but are already being used in some sectors of the UK

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Arch ive/Article/20082851305822

Some people can fool a polygraph test, and wearing very uncomfortable shoes or underwear would be enough to render the test useless.

[R1Geezer]

They are a useful indicator in some cases. Worse than useless for judicial use.

[jake-the-peg]

From Ethel's link:

...Harrow said 998 people had been assessed using the technology during a seven-month period and 119 were identified as "high risk".

Of those, 43 were found to have been paid incorrect benefit

So that's a 64% false positive rate and heaven knows what the false negative rate was!

[Clanad]

Which is one of the reasons the evidence from lie detectors isn't allowed in court here in the U.S.