Comparing X3watch and Covenant Eyes
The following is a copy of a message we received from our friend, Michael Leahy. Michael is the author of Porn Nation, Porn University, and Porn@Work. He is also the founder and Executive Director of Bravehearts, an international social justice organization fighting to end global sexual exploitation. Michael has traveled the world telling the story of his past sex addiction, including hundreds of college campuses on his tour, “Porn Nation: The Naked Truth.”
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After spending 20+ years in the technology industry working for several software and web-based solutions companies, I’ve always been skeptical of free software. Especially when it’s coming from groups who aren’t really in the software business. That’s why it was an easy decision for me to start using Covenant Eyes way back around the ministry started—which just happened to be when I was starting my recovery from a devastating sexual addiction that cost me my 15 year marriage, my family of 2 boys, a business partnership, and most importantly, my closeness to God.
I can honestly say, next to my now fully surrendered walk with God, Covenant Eyes has easily been the #1 success factor for me and my now 11 year long recovery. It is by far the simplest, most effective, most fool-proof recovery tool out there, both for me and my accountability partners. (I have four accountability partners because of the intense spiritual warfare I face due to the nature of my work as a public figure and spokesperson for the 18-24 million Americans who struggle with sexual addiction.)
I could go on and on about all the times Covenant Eyes saved my butt. But let me get back to the point.
I never did try out X3watch, and after having so much success with Covenant Eyes, I never felt like I needed to (c’mon, under $10 a month for my LIFE . . . I just auto-pay the bills and don’t even pay attention to them). But a close friend of mine signed up for X3watch and asked me to be his accountability partner. So of course I agreed to help. That is, until I started getting his X3 accountability reports. They were AWFUL. I mean, not just bad or hard to read, but ridiculous. I struggled to interpret his reports: the info is so cryptic. (And no, I don’t want to go see those sites and their content and put my own recovery and ministry in jeopardy.) After a month of this, I finally told him that if he wasn’t willing over to switch to Covenant Eyes, I really needed him to remove me as his accountability partner.
Which brings me to what I think should be the #1 reason why people out there like me should bag their free X3 software, bite the bullet, and start using CE. Covenant Eyes accountability software was written by and is supported by a real live software company, not a porn ministry/church. For instance, I love my pastor Andy Stanley at North Point Community Church, but I’d never expect them to venture into the software business. And if they did, I certainly wouldn’t buy their product.
I’ve spent a lifelong career working for software companies, and I have to say, I wasn’t expecting a lot from Covenant Eyes when I first installed the software. I’m not only skeptical of free software, but very inexpensive software as well (like CE). But I’ve sat back and watched Covenant Eyes over the years continue to grow and innovate and develop your product into what is and always has been an outstanding software application. The best software out there always looks like the simplest, most transparent and easiest to use software. But as you well know, that doesn’t necessarily make it easy to continue supporting and developing. That takes a lot of talent and money and a real passion to please your customers. Covenant Eyes has earned a 10 out of 10 in my book for customer satisfaction, and I would never refer someone who needs Internet accountability to use anything else, even if it’s free.
Thank you, Covenant Eyes, for years of great work. Thank you for caring about guys like me who are trying to undo decades of the damage done by consuming porn.
And to all those people trying to justify compromising the quality of their recovery by considering or continuing to use sub-standard products like X3watch, you really don’t know what you’re missing. It breaks my heart to read about guys who are struggling trying to use their product, and as a result are questioning whether or not Internet accountability can really help them.
Coming from a guy who spent over half his life as a huge fan and consumer of porn, and who spent his entire career in the software industry, and who knows every way possible to circumvent filters and blockers – IT CAN WORK, AND IT DOES WORK – WITH Covenant Eyes.
I definitely understand where he’s coming from, but I know from personal experience the affectiveness of X3 Watch. I have close Christian men in my life for accountability purposes, but my wife gets my X3 Watch reports. I don’t watch porn anymore, and haven’t for over a year now, but if I did and she got the report, I wouldn’t be worried about her seing the names of the sites and whatnot because she doesn’t struggle with porn, ya know?
I think it depends on a person’s personal preference and their own personal committment. Let’s face it, if you have a moment of weakness and you decide that you’re going to fall into sin, or dive rather, NOTHING will stop you. If you’ve made up your mind you’re going to sin, then that’s what you’re going to do. Porn is so readily available through cable tv, netflix (”technically” doesn’t rent porn, but some of their selections are pretty close, and can serve the same purpose as porn so they might as well be), and video shops and whatnot that a perosn who wants to sin will find a way to sin. I made up my mind a long time ago that I will NEVER go back to that lifestyle and I stick to it.
There are levels of accountability in my life, but ultimately I answer to God. I have a Netflix account via Xbox live and I have digital cable (no premium channels). If I decided that I wanted to watch porn, I could without ever touching the internet, but I CHOOSE not to. I had a revelation a long time ago about what the filth was doing to me – how it affected my relationship with God and my relationship with my wife, and I decided I never wanted to go back to that place. That’s been more than enough to keep me on the right path. But, that approach may not work for everyone, so to each his own.
There is a HUGE difference between X3Watch and Covenant Eyes! We will never go back, it’s way worth the $10/month to be free of this horrible and painful problem. We had X3Watch for a long time and there were many, many times I didn’t receive my husband’s reports at all. He was also able to go in on the computer, disable the software and change my email address on the report sender so that I wouldn’t get a report that week and see what he had been doing on the computer. It took me a long time and a great deal of suspicion and distrust before I discovered what he had been doing and how he’d been getting it by me. With Covenant Eyes I have all the control and every single week I receive a very clear and easy-to-read report. We also now have our computer password protected, I am the only one who knows the password and no one is allowed on the computer without another ADULT in the room. This is an extra precaution our family has taken and we highly recommend. CE over X3 Watch… hands down!! Not that we don’t love and support the other ministries that Triple X does, but when it comes to filtering and accountability software… there is no question for us! BTW the filtering is awesome! We can’t get on anything that is not appropriate, love it!! Coming from a wife and mother of 2 boys.
I agree with my brother above.
It shameful that someone who has obviously struggled with something such as online porn, but who is free thanks to accountability software feels that they have to lay into another organisation which is also trying its best to help others in their own fight against this addiction.
It is clear to see that there is an agenda as this appears on a blog located on the covenanteyes.com website.
We do not all live in the US, it is impossible to sign up for Covenant Eyes unless one lives in, or has lived in the US and has a US credit card, address and phone number – at least it was when I initially tried to sign up for it.
I ended up signing up for, and being helped by XXXWatch – it is installed on all the three computers I use, and it works – I know that if I uninstall it, or try changing my accountability partners email address, he will know about it.
@Ian – I hear you on that. I don’t think Michael is questioning XXXchurch’s motives. Far from it. He questions whether someone should create and promote a software that is wrought with the kind of problems X3 has. I’m sure X3 has helped quite a few people, 10s of 1000s more than likely. I for one am happy any time I hear about how X3 has helped someone.