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There is growing interest in the potential for a technology known as brain fingerprinting to be used in the fight against crime and terrorism, but it's far from reliable.
Its use without consent violates human rights. And importantly, the technology (as it currently exists) can be tricked.
Brain fingerprinting seeks to detect deception by essentially reading thoughts. It works by using electroencephelography (EEG) to read the electrical activity of the brain, with the aim of trying to identify a phenomenon known as the P300 response [DOI: 10.1097/00004691-199210000-00002] [DX].
The P300 response is a noticeable spike in the brain's electrical activity, which usually occurs within one-third of a second of being shown a familiar stimulus. The idea is that our subconscious brain has an uncontrollable and measurable response to familiar stimuli that the machine can register.
Imagine, for example, that a particular knife was used in a murder, and police show an image of it to their lead suspect who denies the crime. If the suspect registers a P300 response and thus a positive recognition of the knife, this would seem to suggest he's lying. Alternatively, if the suspect doesn't register a positive recognition, maybe police have the wrong guy.
Could you escape culpability for your crimes by taking a roofie afterward?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @09:12AM (12 children)
So you just happen to own a very similar knife. As the police officer shows you the one that was used in the murder, you recognize it as similar to the one in your drawer. You got a spike. Bad luck.
On the other hand, the murderer had just grabbed the knife without actually having a closer look at it, therefore doesn't recognize it when shown. Therefore no peak, the murderer goes free. Good for the murderer, bad for everyone else.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by unauthorized on Wednesday September 27 2017, @09:31AM (3 children)
Or if you would like to give it a more sinister spin, you are just "prepped" by being exposed to the stimuli ahead of time.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 27 2017, @11:25AM (1 child)
Suspect: [shrugging] Nope.
Cop: Are you prepared to take a mind-reading test?
Suspect: [shrugging] Nope.
[Suspect getting wired up]
Cop: You do realise that if you have seen this knife before [shows photo of knife again], we will detect that, and it will imply your guilt?
Suspect: I have nothing to hide.
Cop: [flicks switch on recording aparatus] OK, let's begin.
Cop: [shows photo of knife] HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THIS KNIFE BEFORE?!
[needle blips, device beeps]
Suspect: [looking panicked] ahhh...
[company stares at suspect. discordant chord from the orchestra pit. curtains close]
Note - this same test can be performed with a photocopying machine and a collander.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @12:25PM
Suspect: Oh sure, I have, you just showed it to me. I can clearly recognize that it is the same knife again.
Cop: Damn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 28 2017, @10:06AM
In case when you really need accurate information, like when interrogating a captured member of a terrorist cell instead of setting up a patsy, this is a great disadvantage: you only have a single chance to properly acquire it. Pretty "quantum" property, eh?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday September 27 2017, @01:44PM (4 children)
Forget similarity. The police show you YOUR knife, that YOU own. With unique wear and age marks. Stained in the victim's blood. You would get an even higher indication of recognition.
But it doesn't mean you are guilty of the crime.
However, the overriding factor is that this would make police work much MUCH easier. And that is the most important thing. Sort of like how fingerprints are absolutely infallible evidence, while polygraphs are not.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday September 27 2017, @10:03PM (1 child)
Sarcasm?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday September 28 2017, @04:43PM
Most definitely sarcasm. And also the bit about polygraph.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday September 28 2017, @05:44AM (1 child)
I sure hope polygraphs are not admissable. Those things are stress indicators, not lie indicators, albeit most people do show more stress when lying.
While some are so good at lying that neither people nor machine can pick up on the tells.
But far more of us are under extreme stress knowing our fate is being determined by some guy making subjective decisions based on a machine that is monitoring our stress level, whether or not a lie is involved. Its like some of those "intelligence" tests that correlate your intelligence to derive a certain answer. You may just as well see another pattern and base your answer on that. And you fail. You did not see the same pattern the test-maker did. But in this case, the rest of your life is on the line.
I have messed with those machines. They may be a helpful tool for psychological warfare, but from what I know of them, they are good for show, but there are so many other things besides the lie that they will pick up on, that I would consider the testimony of such a machine useless.
The only thing it tells me is someone scared the shit out of someone else. Most likely the fright of knowing his life dangled on the mercy of some machine he has no idea of what its operator is looking for.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday September 28 2017, @04:47PM
Yes. And bite mark analysis.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday September 27 2017, @03:55PM (2 children)
And you might happen to be a similar height to the suspect, and have a similar hat.
Most evidence is circumstantial in one way or another. That's why we have trials, to present facts and allow a jury to make up its mind on the balance of probabilities.
If the suspect owns a similar knife, the defence can point this out.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @07:20PM (1 child)
He was 5 foot 9 inches, 180lbs, brown hair, brown eyes, in blue jeans, and a t-shirt... what is that half the men in the US.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday September 27 2017, @10:01PM
And that's just what a defence lawyer can say to the jury.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk