Software detects lies in email and SMS
PEOPLE who tell lies in their emails and text messages may soon be exposed by new "lie detector" software.
Employers, spouses and people using online dating will be able to install the computer program to check if they are being lied to.
Developed in the US and expected to be available in Australia next year, the program scans the contents of an email or mobile phone text message for specific word patterns.
Whereas a traditional polygraph monitors a person's pulse rate, the "digital polygraph" looks for "linguistic anxiety", said John Cornell, who has led the research.
He said academics had found "tell-tale signs" to detect when a person was lying on email or mobile phone text messages.
Emails are 30 per cent longer when a person is lying and the written language changes dramatically.
