Farhan Hyder Sahito

Abstract: Following the September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, governments have waged a global campaign against terrorists groups in order to ensure national security. A crucial part of this campaign has been intelligence gathering with different methods of interrogation in order to extract allegedly necessary information from suspected terrorists. Similarly, it is not surprising that intelligence personnel have started recognizing that neuroimaging technologies—in particular, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) addresses this fundamental lack within the realm of scientific scrutiny. The current research introduces a first step towards developing a novel experimental interrogation paradigm that aims to apply a number of reliable and practical applications of fMRI within a rule of law and human rights framework. This prototype is applied in such a way that implications of interrogative methodologies will become a reality for mining of knowledge from potential suspects. The ultimate goal of our innovative methodology is the implementation of fMRI in real life situations that may serve the cause of human rights by providing an innocent person the means to scientifically prove his/her innocence. This truth verification tool has potential to replace torture and aggressive existing interrogation strategies. However, we discuss that there are still human rights and privacy concerns that must be addressed prior to moving this technology to real-world application. Similarly, this paper will recommend best practices and guidelines to address scientific, social, ethical, privacy and general public concerns. The future of law enforcement agencies may very well be under construction with this new line of attack that could revolutionize police work and likely to provide significant benefits to society.

Abstract: Recent reports reveal that violent extremists are trying to obtain insider positions that may increase the impact of any attack on critical infrastructure and could potentially endanger state services, people’s lives and even democracy. It is of utmost importance to be able to adopt extreme security measures in certain high-risk situations in order to secure critical infrastructure and thus lower the level of terrorist threats while preserving the rights of citizens. To counter these threats, our research is aiming for extreme measures to analyse and evaluate human threats related assessment methods for employee screening and evaluations using cognitive analysis technology, in particular functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). The development of fMRI has led some researchers to conclude that this technology has forensic potential and may be useful in investing personality traits, mental illness, psychopathology, racial prejudice and religious extremism. However, critics claim that this technology may present many new human rights and ethical dilemmas and could result in potentially disastrous outcomes. The main thrust of the research is to counter above concerns and harmful consequences by presenting a set of ethical and professional guidelines that will substantially reduce the risk of unethical use of this technology. The significance of this research is to ensure the limits of the state/organisation’s right to peer into an individual’s thought process with and without consent, to define the parameters of a person’s right to ensure that fMRI scans do not pose more than an appropriate threat to cognitive liberty, and the proper use of such information in civil, forensic and security settings.