In a report to the United States government, a panel of leading scientists said that polygraph testing is too flawed to use for security screening.

The panel said on Tuesday that lie-detector tests do a poor job of identifying spies or other national-security risks and are likely to result in innocent people being accused falsely.

The 245-page report, by experts convened by the US National Research Council, an arm of the country's National Academy of Sciences, said that the scientific basis for polygraph testing is weak and much of the research supporting its use lacks scientific rigour.

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