IT’S right that we should embrace new technology when it becomes available.

But it should be proven, reliable and absolutely trustworthy.

And that’s just not the case with the telephone lie detector system which the Government is to use to catch out benefit cheats.

The idea of this is that a voice-risk analysis will record any stresses in a caller’s speech and pinpoint them as possible lies.

You can see the attraction to the Department for Work and Pensions, which can rigorously investigate only a tiny sample of claims.

It might well act as a deterrent to cheats if they know they are being tested. Certainly, something is needed with frauds running into millions and millions of pounds a year.

But there may be many reasons for stress levels going up and we must not always assume it is down to telling untruths.

There is a very real fear that innocent people who are nervous – as many are on the phone – could well fall foul of the system and have their claims delayed or rejected.

Lie detectors, in any form, have been proven time and time to be flawed and evidence gathered from them has been rejected by the courts.

The reality is that experienced and sophisticated fraudsters will find their way around this and continue undetected.

It’s the rest of who will suffer by the use of this Big Brother style technology.