Правда

Russians have an obsession with this word – pravda. It means “truth,” and it is the name of a popular Russian newspaper that has its roots in Soviet times. But extracting truth by whatever means possible is not only the thing old Cold War movies involving the “Ruskies” were made of, but by some accounts, still remains a popular focus of the current Russian police and military. Naturally, if there have been technologies developed that can find the lies in our common daily speech patterns, chance are pretty good that they also probably had their roots in the Soviet era.

But before we get into such prophetic technologies, let’s take a step backwards. As protecting privacy appears today to be nothing more than a desired and unachievable goal in statutory and judicial matters, it may be inevitable that the invasion of our privacy is about to enter the area of interpretation of our words and actions as well. If what you say or do doesn’t jibe with what some analytical technology says you are or what you mean, you may be saddled with the negative consequences. Picture your every word run through a constant lie detector with pretty good accuracy… but I bet a sociopath could fool it! It’s interesting to note the technology used by Vegas casinos to track those banned from the gambling palaces in Sin City: retinal scans and facial analytics based on cranial measurements and spacing of eyes, nose, forehead, etc.

So clearly, to introduce such technology into the mainstream, we clearly need to see some legitimate and easily-digestible social justification for the intrusion. For example, if you apply for a loan, banks need some proof of financial bona fides, often reflected in a combination of loan application information and the infamous, privacy-invading credit check. There might be another layer of analytics that the credit agency applies that takes into consideration changes in your spending habits: for example, moving from routinely shopping at expensive department stores to Wal*Mart or using your credit card for marital counseling… divorce is financially destabilizing! But if I added that you had to take a lie detector test, you might just freak out a bit.

What if you de facto took a lie detector test just by talking to a loan officer? How about an ATM with a built-in lie detector? How about little technology about to be made a part of daily life in Moscow? “A voice-measured polygraph to be installed in the electronic tellers of Russia's state-run Sberbank can tell if patrons are talking truth or hogwash in applying for a credit card or loan. The audio recognition technology is touted as the latest weapon against fraud -- but it has roots in the old Soviet Union. The inventor, Speech Technology Center, is contracted by the Federal Security Service, Russia's modern version of the KGB… The ATM also takes fingerprints, scans identification such as passports, and logs a 3-D facial image.” DailyFinance.com, July 18^th.

Hey, think of the convenience: “Consumers with no previous relationship with the bank could talk to the machine to apply for a credit card, with no human intervention required on the bank’s end.” New York Times, June 8^th. My guess is that as you are reading about this, you aren’t exactly thinking how wonderful this capacity may be. If the bank rejects that loan or credit card application, what exactly does that mean for your future credit rating? And if someone deploys that technology under less than voluntary circumstances, there is damage waiting to happen. Think what it would be like if your boss installed that technology in his or her office and invited you in for a chat.

Gee, where did this technology come from, you ask? “The voice-analysis system was developed by the Speech Technology Center, a company whose other big clients include the Federal Security Service — the Russian domestic intelligence agency descended from the Soviet K.G.B… Dmitri V. Dyrmovsky, director of the center’s Moscow offices, said the new system was designed in part by sampling Russian law enforcement databases of recorded voices of people found to be lying during police interrogations… The big bank involved, Sberbank, whose majority owner is the Russian government, said it intended to install the new machines in malls and bank branches around the country eventually, but had not yet scheduled the rollout. Technology consultants say the machines, if they go into commercial use, would be the banking world’s first use of voice analysis in A.T.M.’s.” NY Times. Kind of creepy, right? Think of what else technology has in store for your personal life! Excited? Oh….. What could go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong…

I’m Peter Dekom, and I am giddy at the prospect of this technology coming to a bank or company near you….. NOT!