In the era of hackers and piracy, it would seem as if technology is constantly interfering with the laws set by our government. Now, even the state of the art technology companies use could put them in a legal predicament. You and your company should be wary about the legal implications of the technology you use, as this could put you in a heated situation in the future.
When you talk about cutting-edge technology and its battles with the law, you would probably hear a mention or two about the Japanese company NEC and their robot Sophie. Sophie was said to be able to conduct job interviews not only by asking candidates the usual team player or possible contribution questions, but also by how it can detect the slightest changes in their facial expressions that could serve as an indicator of whether or not they are telling the truth. It could even be programmed to detect blood pressure and the presence of sweat, says a report from Fortune.
By NEC's definition, their robot Sophie is designed for conducting interviews. And although it is a robot, some experts argue that it can actually "humanize" a work plays, reports the Australian Financial Review. However, under a legal definition, it is a lie detector. So now in order to use it, the company has to follow the much stricter guidelines imposed on the use of a lie detector. Unfortunately for NEC, the use of a lie detector on job candidates is against the law.
Sophie could even crunch the data regarding the company's best employees and compare them with the qualities of earmarked job candidates. This would allw NEC to only get the cream of the crop. However, Sophie and other technologies like it, is not immune to partiality. This could open up avenues for candidates that were not accepted to file discrimination lawsuits, reports Forutne.
