Standard Operating Procedure

The term "standard operating procedure" refers to a set of instructions covering those features of operations which lend themselves to a definite or standardized procedure without loss of effectiveness. In today's day and age, a standard operating procedure concerning technology may involve the topic of surveillance. 


The common statistic is that we as individuals are caught on CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras about 300 times a day, all in the name of "safety". In addition to government-funded surveillance,  society today has hundreds of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc., where anyone who has an internet connection can access information about you. The fact is, it is easier than it has ever been in the history of human beings to watch one another, to be exposed, and to record any information collected.


And in this age of heightened surveillance, there are extreme cases of how technological surveillance, or methods of technological observation have had devastating effects. The documentary entitled Standard Operating Procedure by Errol Morris chronicles the genesis and aftermath of a scandal concerning photographs taken at an Iraqi prison in Abu Ghraib. Entry level soldiers at Abu Ghraib chose to document interrogation procedures (some standard and some not) they were told to carry out, by taking photographs during these procedures. Some of these soldiers were sentenced to prison, and the president of the United States publicly apologized to the world for the incidents that took place- but only because these pictures became public. It was the fact these photos provided an indisputable truth of what took place at Abu Ghraib. It was the face that these photos provided a concrete kind of surveillance. 

The idea that our lives can be surveyed on a global scale was exemplified by a human experiment by Josh Harris, which examined the effects of exhibiting ones personal life to a wide audience through media. A quote made by Harris himself perhaps describes his motivation to conduct this experiment, " [I] strongly believe that the technological singularity will be reached and the human being will cease to be an individual, while the machine becomes the new king of the jungle". 


After viewing a documentary by Errol Morris called Harvesting Me, Josh Harris almost becomes an example of what would happen to the human psyche if our lives were under complete surveillance at all times. He became inhuman, almost, because it seemed as though he lived for the people watching him instead of living for himself. This is not an entirely uncommon trait seen in Americans today. Twitter has become a sort of social stomping ground for regaling anyone with internet as to what you are doing every second of every day. 


To be frank, we should have seen this coming. From the moment you know that a camera is recording you, you behave differently. Take that further and say that you begin to willingly create a digital type of self-surveillance, such as twitter or facebook (or even blogging!), and you may begin to behave differently. You may begin to live for logging into these outlets like Josh Harris did for his fans watching his life online. And in that sense, any one around the world can begin to harvest you.