another Poly. question - confidentiality?

[2ds1dd]

Is what you tell the poligrapher 100% confidential? I don't have anything to hide, but if they ask very personal questions {which I've been told they do} who else knows the answers other than the poly., my BI and I? It would suck if I didn't get hired this time around and the entire dept. knew about my very personal life. KWIM?

thx!

[academyboundIL]

You've been misinformed....

Having recently taken my polygraph, I can tell you that they make a point to let you know that no questions regarding anything that may be considered taboo or embarassing would be asked. Of course they'll ask you about how much you drink, how much you steal, and how much you fight, but I'm sure any kinks that you may enjoy in the privacy of your own home will be quite safe.

[kchww]

Just a thought, and I hope that someone out there who knows more will jump in, but arent there cases where too much information about the polygraph, as one would find at antipolygraph.org can lead to questionable answers.

Not that I dont think they should educate themselves, I have just heard that certain knowledge can skew the results and not in the candidates favor...Had anyone else heard this?

[txinvestigator2]

You can be rejected for going to sites in an attempt to trick or defeat the poly. it is exactly what Georges nefarious site tells you to do.

[retdetsgt]

Nothing you tell any cop is confidential unless you're signed up as an informant. There is no immunity on police applications.

I'm one of those who thinks the polygraph is a great tool for criminal investigations, but has no place in employment apps. There's a perfectly sound reason they aren't admissible in court and they shouldn't be admissible when you're trying for a job. I would never work for ANY organization that puts it's own employees on the box.

A good BI will uncover any liars.

That being said, I've gotten a lot of confessions from crooks after they flunked a polygraph. But I've had a lot pass that I was able to prove guilty later too. In a nutshell, it's not reliable.

[Sleuth]

In a discussion with one of my agencies polygraphers, I posed the following question:
"If you ask me a question in an area where I have stong moral beliefs, and I feel "accused", i.e. "How much do you steal?", would not my anger reaction of sweating, increased breathing, etc., produce a 'false positive'?

"Yes, but the questioner needs to phrase the questions in such a way that that would not happen."

Yea, Right. One slip by the examiner, and I'm cooked. No polys for me, thank you.