ATMs — The New Lie Detector?

No this is not a hoax. Gone are the days when ATMs simply dispense cash. New ATM machines in Russia are making customers pay for lying. Sberbank, the state-run bank of Russia, plans to install voice-monitoring polygraphs into ATM machines to determine whether customers are lying when applying for loans or credit cards.

When customers are applying for a credit card or loan they are asked a series of questions such as, “Are you employed?” and “At this moment, do you have any other outstanding loans?” The technology is then able to detect changes in their voice timbre that would typically occur when a person is lying.

Hoping to deter fraud, the technology was created by the Speech Technology Center. But the technology doesn’t stop there. The ATM technology also records fingerprints, scans identification and takes a 3-D facial image of each customer.

Is this making you feel a little leery? Sberbank officials claim it’s the so-called wave of the future and offered this statement to make you feel more at ease, “it doesn’t climb into the client’s brain.” Well, there you go not to worry your brain is still safe when you visit the local ATM!

Although, it is a way for lenders to protect themselves, people still feel that their privacy is being violated. The new technology is already facing complaints about the Big Brother-like intrusion.

One post from Lossofprivacy.com read “What kind of person so readily gives up so many biometric identifiers… it gets your passport information, fingerprints, facial scan, voice and video samples, credit card information, and banking information. No thank you.”

Banks in the United States are not currently working on any such lie detecting technology. But I think it’s safe to say if lie detecting ATMs start to surface here in the states, they are sure to be faced with some heavy opposition!