NCJ Number
224706
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 50 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2008 Pages: 367-387
Date Published
June 2008
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article examines the battery of emerging neuroimaging technologies that claim to gauge and monitor brain activity for the purpose of establishing truth, without the need to penetrate the cranium.
Abstract
The article notes how difficult it is to draw tidy conclusions with clear policy recommendations about technology still in the laboratory. As the art and science of discovering and understanding the information that emanates from our brains surges toward the future, proliferating exponentially in an era where the intelligence will become increasingly nonbiological and trillions of times more powerful than it is today, this article suggests that the goal of using brain-based lie detection in the criminal justice system will require better developed theories of privacy. It is noted how difficult it is to draw tidy conclusions with clear policy recommendations about technology still in the laboratory. The authors argue that, as these technologies become more reliable, the courts will have to address the difficult legal issues that will arise in the context of surreptitious brain surveillance. The article concludes that current constitutional privacy protection could not easily accommodate the challenges that emerge from this kind of technology, given the courts' position that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in information emanating from a private place into a public space. The article then speculates about possible sources of law to support a more robust account of brain privacy. References