FAQ Friday: “Does ‘Porn Mode’ get around Covenant Eyes?”
Firefox 3.1 calls it ‘Private Mode,’ the new Google Chrome calls it ‘Incognito Mode,’ and Internet Explorer 8 calls it ‘InPrivate Browsing’ . . . But for many users of these Web browsers, it’s just called “Porn Mode.”
These features allow a person to surf the Web without the browser recording a history, cookies or a cache of temporary files. While this sort of secret browsing is not a new concept (Safari added this feature over three years ago), and with so many new versions of these web browsers recently adding this feature, many people are excited, but others are concerned.
Does Covenant Eyes accountability software still monitor your Internet even if “porn mode” is on? Yes. These privacy modes have no effect on Covenant Eyes software. This is one of the benefits of Covenant Eyes. It is easy to delete one’s Web history; but with our software, the user’s browsing information isn’t saved on the user’s computer, but rather it is saved on Covenant Eyes’ servers.
Unfortunately, the folks who developed Covenant Eyes software have obstinately resisted developing the software simultaneously for the Linux platform (yet tout it as the best thing since sliced bread), and as such, if you are tempted to view porn, why not just install your favorite flavor of Linux, an appropriate browser, and waalaa… you’re up and running.
I am a paying customer, and EXPECT that I can cover ALL of my computers with the Covenant Eyes service that I PAY FOR. Great! So you cover SOME mobile devices out there… oh yeah… keep the porn off of the small screens, where you can’t see anything anyway… ahh… yep… smart thinking. To heck with the thousands of us using Linux, on BIG screens! Besides, many of us don’t HAVE mobile devices running Windoze Mobile. So who are your customers, anyway? Big Businesses that provide mobile devices running Windoze Mobile. Ahh… I see… The family guy trying to keep his family safe has been left out in the cold.
Covenant Eyes WILL NOT give up the source code (the code I assume is written in C++ or similar, for open-source compilation on other platforms), nor will they hire appropriate programmers to address the Linux Issue . If they were TRULY serious about those of us who are plagued with such temptations, they would not have blown me off when I asked them about this, by essentially saying that they “had no plans to develop for linux”, or “we’re thinking about it, but we don’t have enough people to handle it”, or some kind of Barbara Streisand like that.
Needless to say, they have left a gaping hole in what they are trying to accomplish, and they are unabashedly apathetic about the whole issue, (notice the Linux platform even MENTIONED on their website?… try doing a search in the blog for “Linux”, and see if you don’t get a 404, Not Found message). I haven’t even seen it addressed in this blog, under the category, “Criticisms and FAQ for Covenant Eyes”. They are trying to bury this issue!
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. I WILL NOT be renewing my membership, since it doesn’t give me anything but a bunch of questions from my wife, who is my accountability partner, and DOESN’T help me when I’m on my laptop (running Ubuntu 8.10 Linux, by necessity), which is most of the time I’m away from home (point of maximum temptation).
Covenant Eyes people… YOUR TIME IS UP.
You will notice that the link I posted as being my website (click on my name) is my blog site. If you don’t respond to me directly, AND in the affirmative, I am going to tell the whole Christian AND business world about my experiences with your software and your company the best way I know how, which is by blogging about my experience here, and spreading my words across the web… and don’t for a second think I won’t or can’t do it… and I will be factual, frank, honest and non-slanderous about it… so don’t think you will stop me by suing me… won’t work! Many of my readers are Christian, and conservative. They connect with other Christians out there. You want some bad press? You’re gonna get it handed to you in a way you’re not going to like.
You had better think about this, and very, very soon.
This text is my Copy Right, since I wrote it, and it is ready to be broadcast around the net on my own blog (and therefore many many others, as well) if I don’t get a favorable response within a reasonable period of time. Another action on your part that will trigger my posting this all over the web would be if you continue to be dis-honest, and don’t publish this reply, in it’s entirety, or if I receive any sort of contact from any attorney acting on your behalf.
Hello Jeff, I received your comment and email. I want to take some time to read over your email and follow up with a fitting response, not just from myself, but from my co-workers here at Covenant Eyes. Your complaint is certainly noted and I will be getting back to you promptly. Thanks for desiring to help people maintain purity online.
Jeff,
I’ve finished speaking with both our president and our VP of Technology about your complaint. I also notice that you had some email correspondence with our president back in November about this issue.
Thank you for voicing your complaint. I certainly want to take the time to respond as clearly as possible so there is no misunderstanding. We recognize the growing popularity of Linux, and this is a question we encounter from time to time.
First, thank you for your membership with us, but as far as I know we do not advertise the monitoring of every operating system, but only those that run on Windows or Mac platforms. Were you aware of this before you signed up for Covenant Eyes? If you feel our website or literature is not clear about this, please let us know where we have failed to communicate this clearly so we can clear it up immediately.
Years ago, back when we did not have a filter software product, we were more than eager to refer our members to filters that we thought were the best on the market. We did this because we care very much about the plague of pornography online, regardless of how many members we have or who chooses another product over our own. I will refer you very happily to Accountability Pal if you are looking for a Linux accountability program. We have not fully tested the value, accuracy, or stability of this program, but as of now this is what the Linux community is turning to. I sincerely hope this will put a plug in this problem for you. I’m sure, if the demand for CE in the Linux community is as ubiquitous as you say it is, this or a similar program is being utilized and improved by Linux users.
To answer your question, simply releasing our code for open source would not be the only thing required to build a version of CE for Linux. We also write all of our own interfaces among our Member Center, Accountability Reports, web scoring system, and the communication between our servers and Windows LSP or Mac’s kernel. To allow others access to this information would pose a huge security risk for us and our members. If you have any suggestions for how we might work around these concerns, please let us know.
As our president communicated to you in a previous email, we do not want to do anything half-baked, and it would take a sizable amount of resources to develop a version of CE for Linux that would be as uncircumventable by the average Linux user. Right now our main priority is improving the current programs we have for the two most popular operating systems (Windows and Mac). We get many, many more requests from family men such as yourself for other programs (i.e. a Mac filter, CE for the iPhone, Windows Mobile, the Blackberry, or the Android Phone) than we do from those who fear using Linux as a circumvention method. Try as we might to “be all things to all platforms,” this is not within our means right now. I respectfully ask you to not demand something of us that isn’t feasible at this time.
I would like to reiterate we are very much concerned about the accessibility of pornography online. As someone who has been addicted to pornography in the past I can all too easily sympathize. However, to judge our seriousness about this issue based on our lack of a product for the Linux platform is unfair. It would not be right of me to assume that other software providers are apathetic about pornography because they lacked a certain product but had others. I’m sure you would agree, it is impossible to judge the hearts of the people involved without knowing them. Plus, with the rising use of online mobile devices, and the creation of many porn sites specifically geared for these devices, we see it as a high priority to devote more of our resources to the creation of CE for these devices.
Lastly, we would not be at all interested in suing you if you inform the Internet community about what we have said concerning this issue. As you can see I quickly published your comment on this blog. We are very interested in hearing the complaints and problems of our members. In fact, you are probably right about it being high time for us to add a post about Linux on this blog. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
On a personal note, I can see that this is incredibly frustrating to you, and I would love to be able to tell you that we are working on this project. I would probably be frustrated as well. This is why I highly encourage you to try Accountability Pal and let us know how you feel about it. We will be more than happy to recommend such a program to Linux users if it is of a high caliber. And again, if you have any suggestions about how we can safely contribute to an open source project that can benefit Linux users, please let us know. We would be eager to hear your thoughts.
Thanks to everyone who is replying to this dialogue about Linux. Go to our post “Covenant Eyes for Linux” to read them.
I must side with Jeff. I think you guys are doing a great job with this type of software, but there are a few products that you guys have neglected to develop. I don’t completely agree with Jeff on developing for linux, but one thing that you guys should make is an internet-gateway-filter. Run CE on one computer, and it covers all computers on the network. Bypassing this would require one to have access to the internet gateway machine. This should at least be an option for CE users.
At the very least, add CE support for windows internet connection sharing. This is something I’ve been wanting to see released for quite some time now.
[This was written several months later, after having done a search for the keywords "accountability software linux" while contemplating a system upgrade]
First, I must apologize for my scathing letter to the wonderful folks at CE, as I am convinced they REALLY DO care about this issue, and I realize that they can only do just so many things at once and still remain effective in the battle.
Indeed, I was exceedingly frustrated by the lack of DISCUSSION of the Linux issue, let alone any solutions, and I let my own personal experience (my wife thanking me for putting CE on all household computers; but that it really meant nothing to her since the Ubuntu laptop which I use while on trips couldn’t run it) add to my fire.
I’m truly sorry for the way I treated you guys… I know you have your heart in the right place. I beg your forgiveness, Luke, since you had to deal with my flames directly. I WAS unfair to you guys and deeply regret my language and threats to publish the content of the letter I wrote in my blog, the bulk of which has now been published here for the search engines to use therefore anyway…. Well, it just brings to mind that once you say something, you can’t “un-say” it. I only hope that maybe it has driven us to start discussing what CAN be done. [I have not yet read everything in the discussion, and so I am still looking for a solution.]
If you will still have me, I would be happy to attempt to contribute constructively in the “Covenant Eyes for Linux” post in the future. Somewhere there is an answer; Linux will not be the only challenge we face in this battle. Technology marches on….
Sincerely in Christ,
Jeff Bayer
@Jeff – Thanks for your apology and kind words. All is forgiven. Please contribute to our discussion any time!
@ Luke – Thanks so much sir…. I will….