Polygraph device enters Moldovan Defense Ministry

Moldova's Defense Ministry has drafted a bill that would allow it to test military personnel with lie detectors to "assess their integrity and ethics" and has put it up for public discussion.

“It will be possible to use a lie detector to assess the integrity and ethics of military personnel during official investigations and inquiries, and this will help identify individuals who may pose a risk to the military establishment due to their unauthorized transmission of sensitive administrative information,” the bill’s accompanying memo said.

The project's authors claim that "in some countries, it is possible to subject military and defense personnel who have access to classified official information or other information that may constitute a state secret to lie detector tests."

The bill stipulates that these tests will be conducted by certified specialists and has been put up for public discussion until July 29.

The lie detector receives and records multiple signals from sensors attached to a person's body during the test, which usually begins with simple questions to create natural physical reactions. The test results emerge with further inquiries, when the machine detects a change in pulse, sweat level and body movements, all of which can indicate that the person is lying.