[klodolph]

We can go down the rabbit hole all we want, but a "lie detector" is a specific type of device. Not everything that can detect lies is a lie detector.

(And not everything called a "lie detector" can detect lies, either. A polygraph test doesn't detect lies at all... and yet it is exactly the type of test banned. In fact, that's one of the main reasons why it is banned: because it doesn't work for its stated purpose.)

[xphilter]

Right, but the "specific type of device" is defined more broadly than that -- so if I code a "lie detector" that tracks mouse movements during an online interview (my hypothesis would be that liars and cheats move their mouse more sporadically), could I use that code as a part of an interview process?

[klodolph]

> Right, but the "specific type of device" is defined more broadly than that...

More broadly than what? I can't recall giving a specific definition for lie detector.

It sounds like what you are describing is basically a way to use mouse movements to detect psychological stress, which is more or less the same way a polygraph is designed to work. So it would be banned, because it's the same type of thing that a polygraph is.

[xphilter]

Sorry -- it's in my original question, from the statute (here https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/801.2)

"The term lie detector means a polygraph, deceptograph, voice stress analyzer, psychological stress evaluator, or any other similar device (whether mechanical or electrical) that is used, or the results of which are used, for the purpose of rendering a diagnostic opinion regarding the honesty or dishonesty of an individual. Voice stress analyzers, or psychological stress evaluators, include any systems that utilize voice stress analysis, whether or not an opinion on honesty or dishonesty is specifically rendered"

[klodolph]

Yes, sorry... I'm not responding to your original question, I'm responding to the oversimplification,

> Lying is a behavior, and cheating is dishonest.

I'm aware of the definition.

The problem is that it depends on whether mouse movements are being used to detect psychological stress or whether they are used to detect that someone is cheating by flipping to another browser window or talking with someone in a chat window.

[vageli]

You raise a good point that my oversimplification obscured.