A recent story from Nova Scotia has focused a lot of attention on pre-employment screening and the use of polygraphs. Hopefully, it will encourage a larger discussion on both sides of the issue.
According to media reports, anybody applying for a job that falls within the purview of the Halifax Police Service and Fire Service is required to pay for a polygraph examination that includes a range of questions, some of which have been considered to be objectionable. (See the full questionnaire here (pdf) [1].)
Others have objected to the use of a polygraph, as many assert it is not a reliable indicator of truthiness truthfulness. (If you want a refresher on how Canadian courts are to treat polygraphs, check out R. v. Béland, 1987 CanLII 27 (S.C.C.) [2]).
The media coverage has been plentiful, from the local [3] papers to CBC’s The National [4] (Quicktime [5]).
The former FOIPOP Review Officer has made his thoughts known (Ex-watchdog: Ditch polygraphs [6]) as has his successor Dulcie McCallum (Nova Scotians deserve same privacy protection as others [7]).
Any debate and discussion is a good thing. It should, hopefully, focus the mind on one of the principes of privacy best practices that appears in almost every public and private sector privacy law: only collect information that’s reasonably necessary for the (reasonable) purposes. If it’s not necessary or not reasonable, don’t collect it. Other important principles to consider: who has access to the information, how is it used and how long is it kept around?
And now for something completely different somewhat relevant, yet inadmissible: