CSE should make changes or stop using polygraphs: watchdog report

By Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press on September 26, 2024.

OTTAWA – A new watchdog report says there are fundamental issues with the use of polygraphs for security screening by Canada’s cyberspy agency.

It calls for the Communications Security Establishment and the federal government to urgently address them or stop using the tests for security screening altogether.

The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency says it’s the first time a Canadian independent review body has done such a detailed assessment on this type of program.

The report says CSE’s use of polygraph tests, and the Treasury Board’s authorization of the tests for security screening, raises “serious concerns” under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It says CSE policies didn’t adequately address privacy issues, and outlines concerns involving the collection and use of personal and medical information.

It also cites “repetitive and aggressive” questioning by examiners, often resulting from an assessment that was initially negative.

Such questioning “risks causing some subjects to inadvertently fabricate information in an effort to explain an unfavourable polygraph assessment,” it outlines.

The tests measure physiological responses like heart rate and blood pressure to detect deception.

But the review body says the research it looked at “simply does not support the existence of a scientific consensus supporting the reliability or validity of the polygraph as a means to detect deception.”

The report says CSE placed too much importance on the polygraphs, “to the extent that other, less intrusive security screening activities were insufficiently used or not used at all.”

It adds that the polygraph results were “de facto determinative” in making decisions related to security screening.

The watchdog says in a background document the Treasury Board should “undertake a thorough analysis to support which screening tools it promotes and requires while being mindful that security screening does not grant an organization the licence to override the fundamental privacy protections granted under Canadian law.”

The CSE and Treasury Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.