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National standardization of polygraphs in Ukraine

On January 20, 2017 according to the decision of the national standardization authority State Enterprise "Ukrainian Research and Training Center of Standardization, Certification and Quality", national standard of technical specifications for polygraphs came into force in Ukraine (DSTU 8692:2016).

Wherein:

  1. In accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On public procurements", purchased products must comply with DSTU, thus polygraphs procured for budgetary funds in Ukraine, starting from January 20, 2017 must comply with DSTU 8692:2016.
  2. According to the Law of Ukraine "On sanctions" polygraphs do not belong to the list of goods banned for public procurements in Ukraine, including specialized software used in them.
  3. According to the instructions of the Ministry of Justice "On appointment and conduction of forensic examinations and expert research" during expertise (expert examinations) experts should apply appropriate research methods, methods of conducting forensic examinations, as well as legal acts and regulations (international, national and industry standards , technical specifications ... software) and others.

Regulations of DSTU, that deserve attention of both producers and users:

  1. "Polygraph is a multi-channel control and measuring system...", so in the documentation of manufacturers of polygraphs all measurement parameters must be specified precisely in metric system, which is used in Ukraine. Otherwise, according to the Law of Ukraine "On metrology and metrological activity", verification of polygraph manufacturers should be carried out in one of the specialized calibration centers of national standardization body of Ukraine.
  2. "Sensors of physiological parameters that are parts of the polygraph, shall be calibrated in accordance with DSTU 2708", therefore manufacturers of polygraphs must comply with national standard of Ukraine "Calibration of measuring equipment", including to confirm compliance of measuring readings of polygraph sensors that are declared by the manufacturer (in technical specifications or in calibration certificates).
  3. "Calibration interval for data recording and processing unit should be not less than 1 year", means that every user of polygraph in Ukraine should conduct an annual calibration of technical parameters of data recording and processing unit complete with all sensors by the manufacturer or its authorized representative (official dealer).

Note: when carrying out forensic examinations using the polygraph, calibration of measurement parameters for compliance with the criteria stated by the manufacturer should be performed twice: before and after the research procedures (in accordance with the standards of forensic examinations using measuring equipment).

  1. "Set of sensors for polygraph: several, but not less than five major sensors, must include sensor of counteract detection and additional sensors, by means of which in accordance with objectives of the study, register number of different physiological parameters of human body"

Basic sensors register:

  • dynamics of the upper (thoracic) respiratory activity;
  • dynamics of the lower (diaphragmatic) respiratory activity;
  • dynamics of electro-dermal activity (phasic and tonic components);
  • dynamics of activity of peripheral blood (plethysmogram);
  • dynamics of motor activity (tremor of the body)

You should pay attention to the registration channel of electro-dermal activity, which must contain readings of the tonic component for the purpose of objective evidence of the optimal level of psycho-emotional stress of respondents, and therefore the adequacy of their state of consciousness during the studies, due to the fact that polygraph examiners are not specialists in this area, hence their subjective judgment should be confirmed by measuring indicators of a polygraph.

  1. "In the event of need to preserve information confidential, classified or restricted as defined in DSTU 3396.2, relevant work and organized system of technical protection of information must be held in accordance with the DSTU 3396.1 ", therefore polygraphs intended for research of respondents that have access to the state, military, trade secret, shall comply with the requirements of State Standard "Technical protection of information" (including software, confirmed by a certificate of information security).

Comparative analysis of Ukrainian DSTU 8692:2016 with American ASTM E2439

Content analysis comes down to the fact, that in both standards there are no fundamental differences, except for the fact that in DSTU 8692:2016, in the volume of 28 pages, all the provisions are itemized much more detailed than in ASTM E2439, in the volume of 2 pages. For example, ASTM E2439 provides that "At least such measuring devices must simultaneously record respiratory indices, electrodermal and cardiovascular activity of a person," and DSTU 8692:2016 that is presented in above quote of section 4.

Thus, in the field of instrumental lie detection with the usage of polygraphs in Ukraine the new regulatory act came to force, which all the polygraph examiners and other persons acquiring goods or services in this market are obliged to adhere.