Internet Accountability Software

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RonF

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I’m sure that many of you out there have experience in protecting family members (and yourselves) from pornography and other inappropriate material on the internet. I am looking for advice in regard to Internet Accountability Software. What is the best software in terms of providing good, readable reports - via email - to a selected accountability partner or partners. I am not so much interested in the filtering aspect of the software as I am in the reporting/accountability aspect.

This is important enough that the cost is not a major factor - I would rather pay for better than get less-than-better for free.

Also, can anyone provide advice on how to find accountability partners willing to help a recovering internet sex addict?

God bless!

RonF
 
I can recommend Spector Pro highly. It can provide instant email reports, key logs, everything that a computer does, including extensive screen shots so you see everything that has been viewed on that computer. It is not free. You have to purchase more than once license if you have more computers, which is one drawback, it is not global. But it is extremely stealthy, cannot be found by anyone but a very experienced hacker (even they might not find it). It does not show up in the programs list, etc.

Spector Pro
 
Personally, my accountability partner is my own Mother. I talked to her very openly and honestly and she is willing to take me accountable. Also, I’m considering accountability with an Opus Dei priest this Tuesday cuz I also need and want spiritual guidance.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
I can recommend Spector Pro highly. It can provide instant email reports, key logs, everything that a computer does, including extensive screen shots so you see everything that has been viewed on that computer. It is not free. You have to purchase more than once license if you have more computers, which is one drawback, it is not global. But it is extremely stealthy, cannot be found by anyone but a very experienced hacker (even they might not find it). It does not show up in the programs list, etc.

Spector Pro
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RealJuliane,

Thank you for the great advice - after reading your post I have done some research into Spector Pro and it does indeed seem to be the best monitoring software available. It does appear that this is best suited for in-family use and monitoring, as unless I am wrong the screen shots capture everything. If someone wanted to use it with, say, an acquaintance or non-family member as the accountability partner, one might be sharing some confidential information - online banking for example - that one should not share with anyone, nor burden the accountability partner with shared responsibility for keeping that information confidential.

Or is there a way to withhold information like on-line banking from being shared with the accountability partner? In my personal situation, I am interested in helping an adult (me) maintain internet accountability with, potentially, another non-related adult as accountability partner.

I guess I can pursue these questions directly with Spector Pro (which by all accounts has a great support network). But if you can shed any light on my questions I would be very grateful.

Again, many thanks! I had researched some other software but I missed Spector Pro.

RonF
 
I believe Microsoft has a Family Safety programme that is shipped with its Windows OS or could be downloaded for free. It’s contained in the Windows Live Essentials suite.
 
RonF said:
RealJuliane,

Thank you for the great advice - after reading your post I have done some research into Spector Pro and it does indeed seem to be the best monitoring software available. It does appear that this is best suited for in-family use and monitoring, as unless I am wrong the screen shots capture everything. If someone wanted to use it with, say, an acquaintance or non-family member as the accountability partner, one might be sharing some confidential information - online banking for example - that one should not share with anyone, nor burden the accountability partner with shared responsibility for keeping that information confidential.

Or is there a way to withhold information like on-line banking from being shared with the accountability partner? In my personal situation, I am interested in helping an adult (me) maintain internet accountability with, potentially, another non-related adult as accountability partner.

I guess I can pursue these questions directly with Spector Pro (which by all accounts has a great support network). But if you can shed any light on my questions I would be very grateful.

Again, many thanks! I had researched some other software but I missed Spector Pro.

RonF
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One simple way to avoid it would be to use another computer for confidential transactions, but then the temptation to stray would be there, too. This was not my problem when I was using it to monitor my son. I needed to see everything he was doing. Spector Pro even logs FB and other social networking chat, which most other monitoring software cannot do.

I would contact the company and ask them what alternatives you might have. It could be that you can exclude certain information with just a tweak of settings. Just not sure.

In every other way, Spector Pro is the best for stealth monitoring of a computer.

If you want to keep most of the porn out of your network completely, Open DNS is a free program that works fairly well. It works at the router level so any device that is using the network is blocked from porn. I am using it now instead of Spector Pro.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
One simple way to avoid it would be to use another computer for confidential transactions, but then the temptation to stray would be there, too. This was not my problem when I was using it to monitor my son. I needed to see everything he was doing. Spector Pro even logs FB and other social networking chat, which most other monitoring software cannot do.

I would contact the company and ask them what alternatives you might have. It could be that you can exclude certain information with just a tweak of settings. Just not sure.

In every other way, Spector Pro is the best for stealth monitoring of a computer.

If you want to keep most of the porn out of your network completely, Open DNS is a free program that works fairly well. It works at the router level so any device that is using the network is blocked from porn. I am using it now instead of Spector Pro.
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RealJuliane,

I purchased the Spector Pro software this week and will be installing it this weekend. I discussed the confidential transactions issue with the account representative prior to buying it – it looks like the monitoring is an “all-or-nothing” deal so it will indeed capture everything. So my online purchases will need to be made on another computer, as you surmised. Since my employer is kind enough to allow (limited) personal use of company computers, I will make my online purchases and do my online banking (neither of which is very extensive or frequent, frankly) on the company computer. The company computer is monitored and filtered by my employer (a Fortune 500 company) meaning I cannot look for inappropriate internet material at work. So I should be safe from the temptation to “act out” by using a second computer for these private financial matters.

Having my internet activity monitored by a supportive and engaged accountability partner or partners is part of my long-term plan for achieving and maintaining purity. My days of internet searching for hardcore material is – I hope – behind me but temptations remain, including the temptation to look for softer stuff, and suggestive photographs and art, and lurid news stories. I am in the process of writing out a set of rules or guidelines to follow when I use the internet, so that my cyber activity falls into constructive, educational, and wholesome categories. A partnership with someone who can keep me accountable to my goal to be pure, who will help monitor my internet activity and engage with me over my general internet usage is something I think I will need on an indefinite basis, given my thirty-plus year history of accessing and acting out with inappropriate materials, dating back to before the age of the internet.

Now that I am getting the monitoring software in place, the next step is to find the right accountability partner. Perhaps I can find someone who has the same problem as me and we can monitor each other. Anyway, one step at a time, as it is important to do this right.

Juliane - Thanks so much for introducing me to Spector Pro!

God bless you,

RonF
 
God bless YOU, Ron! I know this is a terrible struggle for men these days, you are not alone. There is a group for men here on CAF, maybe you can find an accountability partner there.

I will keep you in my prayers.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
God bless YOU, Ron! I know this is a terrible struggle for men these days, you are not alone. There is a group for men here on CAF, maybe you can find an accountability partner there.

I will keep you in my prayers.
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Thank you so much, Juliane. There is indeed a great group on CAF - the Impurity Addiction Support Group, which I joined about a month ago and I have been actively engaged in the group. Members of that group have been very supportive and helpful. Now that I am starting to put together my “plan” in regard to internet safety, I will likely be inquiring of the group in search of my internet accountability partner. (I am already on a regular weekly phone call with a few members - this is a great accountability group but our focus goes beyond the internet alone).

Again, many thanks for your kindness, and for your prayers. God bless!

Ron
 
There is also Accountability2You.com which costs approximately $4.99/mo.

There is also X3Watch which is free.

Covenant Eyes is $7.99/mo. but is probably the most well known and referenced.
I even found a Jewish site, WebChaver, which leverages the Covenant Eyes system .

For just Filtering and blocking inappropriate sites and displaying useage data, there is K9 Web Protection which is FREE, as well.

You can also set up a filter by merely changing your DNS settings within Windows to point to DYN.com’s DNS servers
You do have to sign up for a free DYN account.

If you have a spare or old computer, you could also turn the old computer into a Filtering gateway which all your internet traffic goes through, which would then protect all of your computers, but that’s obviously more advanced.
 
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