Summary

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has ordered lie detector tests for DHS staff to identify leaks that allegedly foiled immigration raids, including a failed Colorado operation targeting Venezuelan gang members.

The directive, leaked to Bloomberg, requires polygraph questions about unauthorized communications with media and nonprofits. Despite polygraphs’ unreliability, DHS insists they are necessary for national security.

The crackdown follows frustration from Trump’s border czar Tom Homan over compromised raids and aligns with broader MAGA-era efforts to control government communication.

  • Kitathalla@lemy.lol
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    3 days ago

    Meanwhile, I’ve told the absolute truth and failed. Polygraphs are dumb as shit.

    • TheFogan@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      3 days ago

      Polygraphs terrify me, I’ve never had to do one, but I know I’m always holding in huge waves of anxiety and paranoia. Which you know is all lie detector tests do, is read signs of nervousness. Hence they have a high false positive amoung people who are anxious and are completely unable to detect anything on psychopaths and people with strong emotional control (as well as those who have learned tricks to game the system… (IE methods to make symptoms show stronger on the baseline questions so that you can lessen them on questions you are lying during).

      • Kitathalla@lemy.lol
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        2 days ago

        Honestly, that’s all they’re good for: creating paranoia/terror/nervousness in the subject. Go read the ‘how to beat a polygraph’ book. Knowledge is calming.

        Also? It’s not anything to do with symptoms showing stronger on baseline questions. The only big giveaway is breathing. I work in the medical field. Blood pressure, heart rate, bla bla bla… they all vary with frequencies and magnitudes that don’t allow them to be filtered from responses that do signify anything. The only vital sign that has a low enough rate for changes to really be detected is how often you take a breath. If you control that, the game is over. A really observant tester watching a testee attempting (poorly) to mask breathing rate may notice something is off, but it’s still a judgement call whether it’s due to nervousness and the attempt to calm down, or actual deception.

        The best way to ‘pass’ a polygraph is to be just nice/cute enough to get the tester to like you somewhat, and then control your breathing. The proper test has them talking to you for at least a half hour beforehand so they can ‘get an idea’ about you, so you have plenty of time to be friendly. Take advantage of that. There is some nice research out there about self-disclosures and their effect on being liked. If they see a pattern that could be you being nervous, could be you trying to deceive, being liked will tip them towards the kinder perception.

        • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          2 days ago

          Lol i would absolutely bomb a polygraph, nervous as fuck, cant breath for shit (deviated septum, severe allergies, probably sleep apnea)