Accountability software, or shameware, is a type of

surveillance software Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is any malware that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user by violating their privacy, endangering their device's security, ...

that records the user's Internet activity and reports it to another person, often called an

accountability partner An accountability partner is someone who supports another person to keep a commitment or maintain progress on a desired goal. They will often be a trusted friend or acquaintance who will regularly ask an individual about their progress or receive ...

. This person is often, but not necessarily, an authority figure, such as a parent, teacher, spouse or religious leader. The purpose of such software is to change the user's behavior by exposing them to

shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

and possibly other consequences for Internet activity that the authority figure deems inappropriate, such as viewing

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

. Accountability software typically functions by continuously making

screenshots A screenshot (also known as screen capture or screen grab) is an analog or digital image that shows the contents of a computer display. A screenshot is created by a (film) camera shooting the screen or the operating system or software running o ...

of the user's mobile phone or computer screen and monitoring their internet traffic. It checks both for keywords (such as "gay" or "porn") and images associated with the behavior the software is intended to detect. If such content is found, the software generates a report that is transmitted to the authority figure controlling the software, who may then confront the user about their activity. The software may also double as

content-control software An Internet filter is software that restricts or controls the content an Internet user is capable to access, especially when utilized to restrict material delivered over the Internet via the Web, Email, or other means. Such restrictions can be appl ...

. As of 2022, a "multimillion-dollar ecosystem" of accountability software products exists, marketed to parents and churches. The largest users of accountability software are religious groups and families. Products in this field include Fortify, Accountable2You, EverAccountable, and Covenant Eyes; there are also free options, including Net Responsibility (for Mac OS and Linux) and the free version of

X3watch XXXchurch.com is a website developed by Live Free Ministries promoting a Christian ideology to try to help men with pornography and sex addiction. The website was launched in 2002 and relaunched/rebranded in 2021 when it became part of Live Free ...

(for Windows and Mac OS). Most of these products implement a "

zero-tolerance A zero-tolerance policy is one which imposes a punishment for every infraction of a stated rule.zero tolerance, n.' (under ''zero, n.''). The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. 1989. Retrieved 10 November 2009. Italy, Japan, Singapore China, I ...

" approach to pornography, and some are marketed as a way to combat "

pornography addiction Pornography addiction is the scientifically controversial application of an addiction model to the use of pornography. Pornography use may be part of compulsive behavior, with negative consequences to one's physical, mental, social, or financial we ...

", as in the case of Covenant Eyes, which made roughly

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

4 million in 2008, from around 56,000

subscriptions The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It i ...

. Following a ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'' report in 2022, Google removed Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You from the

Google Play store Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

because these apps used accessibility functionalities for surveillance purposes in a manner prohibited by Google, but Covenant Eyes was later reinstated.

References

{{reflist Computer surveillance

See also

References