Editing National Security Agency (section)

==== Polygraphing ====
[[File:DOD polygraph brochure.pdf|thumb|[[Defense Security Service]] (DSS) polygraph brochure given to NSA applicants]]
The NSA conducts [[polygraph]] tests of employees. For new employees, the tests are meant to discover enemy spies who are applying to the NSA and to uncover any information that could make an applicant pliant to coercion.<ref name=Bauer359>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBkEGAOlCDsC&pg=PA359|author=Bauer, Craig P.|title=Secret History: The Story of Cryptology |publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4665-6186-1|year=2013|page=359}}</ref> As part of the latter, historically ''EPQs'' or "embarrassing personal questions" about sexual behavior had been included in the NSA polygraph.<ref name=Bauer359 /> The NSA also conducts five-year periodic reinvestigation polygraphs of employees, focusing on counterintelligence programs. In addition, the NSA conducts periodic polygraph investigations to find spies and leakers; those who refuse to take them may receive "termination of employment", according to a 1982 memorandum from the director of the NSA.<ref name=BamfordBodyp538>{{cite book|author=Bamford|title=Body of Secrets|chapter=page 538 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqY4Wr3T5K4C&pg=PA538 |author-link=James Bamford|title-link=Body of Secrets|date=18 December 2007|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing |isbn=9780307425058}}</ref>

[[File:NSApolygraphvideo.webm|thumb|left|180px|NSA-produced video on the polygraph process]]
There are also "special access examination" polygraphs for employees who wish to work in highly sensitive areas, and those polygraphs cover counterintelligence questions and some questions about behavior.<ref name=BamfordBodyp538 /> NSA's brochure states that the average test length is between two and four hours.<ref name=NSApolybrochure>{{cite web|title=Your Polygraph Examination: An Important Appointment to Keep|url=https://www.nsa.gov/careers/_files/poly_brochure_final2.pdf|publisher=National Security Agency|access-date=June 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903162514/http://www.nsa.gov/careers/_files/poly_brochure_final2.pdf|archive-date=2013-09-03|url-status=dead}}</ref> A 1983 report of the [[Office of Technology Assessment]] stated that "It appears that the NSA [National Security Agency] (and possibly CIA) use the polygraph not to determine deception or truthfulness per se, but as a technique of interrogation to encourage admissions."<ref>{{cite news|author=McCarthy, Susan|title=The truth about the polygraph|url=http://www.salon.com/2000/03/02/polygraph/|work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|access-date=July 5, 2013|archive-date=August 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816012934/http://www.salon.com/2000/03/02/polygraph/|url-status=live}}</ref> Sometimes applicants in the polygraph process confess to committing felonies such as murder, rape, and selling of illegal drugs. Between 1974 and 1979, of the 20,511 job applicants who took polygraph tests, 695 (3.4%) confessed to previous felony crimes; almost all of those crimes had been undetected.<ref name=Bauer359 />

In 2010 the NSA produced a video explaining its polygraph process.<ref name=Nageshvideo>{{cite news|author=Nagesh, Gautham|url=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/163354-nsa-video-tries-to-dispel-fear-about-polygraph-use-during-job-interviews/|title=NSA video tries to dispel fear about polygraph use during job interviews|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=June 14, 2010|access-date=June 15, 2013|archive-date=April 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401085433/https://thehill.com/policy/technology/163354-nsa-video-tries-to-dispel-fear-about-polygraph-use-during-job-interviews/|url-status=live}}</ref> The video, ten minutes long, is titled "The Truth About the Polygraph" and was posted to the Web site of the [[Defense Security Service]]. Jeff Stein of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' said that the video portrays "various applicants, or actors playing them—it's not clear—describing everything bad they had heard about the test, the implication being that none of it is true."<ref name=Steinpolygraph>Stein, Jeff. "[http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/06/facing_nsas_lie_detector_relax.html NSA lie detectors no sweat, video says] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200708/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/06/facing_nsas_lie_detector_relax.html |date=2013-10-29 }}." ''The Washington Post''. June 14, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2013.</ref> AntiPolygraph.org argues that the NSA-produced video omits some information about the polygraph process; it produced a video responding to the NSA video.<ref name="Nageshvideo" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Maschke|first=George|date=13 June 2010|title=The Truth About the Polygraph (According to the NSA)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93_FDeMENN4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/93_FDeMENN4| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|access-date=15 July 2020|website=Youtube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> George Maschke, the founder of the Web site, accused the NSA polygraph video of being "[[Orwellian]]".<ref name=Steinpolygraph />

In 2013, an article indicated that after [[Edward Snowden]] revealed his identity in 2013, the NSA began requiring polygraphing of employees once per quarter.<ref name=Drezner>Drezner, Daniel. "[https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/16/tone_deaf_at_the_listening_post_my_day_at_the_NSA Tone-Deaf at the Listening Post] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825152001/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/16/tone_deaf_at_the_listening_post_my_day_at_the_NSA |date=2014-08-25 }}." ''[[Foreign Policy]]''. December 16, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2014. "Snowden has also changed the way the NSA is doing business. Analysts have gone from being polygraphed once every five years to once every quarter."</ref>