“My son and I send each other weekly reports on everything that appears on our devices. If anything questionable pops up, as an accountability partner I get notified immediately.” It is not just any father who speaks proudly of this stringent family pact Mike Johnson, Republican speaker in the US House of Representatives. What's behind it? Covenant Eyes, a Christian online tracking app that is taking over America's religious right.
Between fears of excessive control and doubts about effectiveness, however, this app raises more questions than answers. I'll tell you about it here, then you decide.
A “bigoted” app to monitor dirty consumption
How does Covenant Eyes work (something like “Allied Eyes” if you're not interested in the literal translation, but the substance)? The app tracks the user's online movements and flags any content deemed inappropriate, especially dirty material. Fornication: no good, to summarize.
Then send a report of this activity to an “accountability partner,” someone in your circle who, in turn, has their activity monitored by you. How about?
A 26 million dollar deal
Covenant Eyes is behind it Ron DeHaas, an evangelist who believes things like pornography are closely linked to sex trafficking. He founded the company in 2000 to protect his two children, then teenagers, from what he believes to be "a red light apocalypse". It didn't go badly: today Covenant Eyes employs 200 people, and has annual profits of $26 million.
So off to cross selling: DeHaas launched in January Victory, a “sister” app to optimize the service offered by Covenant Eyes. Its sensor remains silent on the user's device and uses artificial intelligence to scan for “deplorable” activity and block explicit websites. Covenant Eyes would be installed on all devices to form a protection system, while Victory is where all the data is collected: a real spy network against pornography consumption.
Covenant Eyes: education or control?
I open with a slapping question: but are these measures really necessary in a society addicted to porn? I asked a brilliant psychologist and psychotherapist I know: my wife, Lucy Emperor.
For her, Johnson's approach reveals a lack of understanding of sexuality: “this app has no connection with sex education, because it's not about educating but about controlling. It can produce, especially in young people, an experience of anxiety regarding sexuality. The problem isn't the app itself, which is neither good nor bad. It is the approach that lies at the basis of it”. And now, after the wife, you also get my doubts.
Doubts about effectiveness and privacy
First of all: I doubt this app works. I think it served more as an advertising gimmick, and as a revenue vehicle. To produce its results, in any case, this platform has access to everything that is private for the user, not just activities on “risque” territories. Does it also detect if undressed bodies are looked at "covetously" on sites other than prohibited ones?
A total devastation of privacy for a meager booty. Of course, in purely theoretical terms apps like Covenant Eyes can raise awareness of what pornography abuse can do in the short and long term, and there is no discussion about the damages of excesses. But this must be addressed through education and awareness, not invasive surveillance disguised as accountability.
Otherwise, we risk creating a society in which any manifestation of "non-conformity" related to eros is seen as something dirty and shameful, to be repressed and controlled, rather than a natural and healthy part of human life.
Covenant Eyes, in summary
The rise of apps like Covenant Eyes is a symptom of a larger problem: an approach to sexuality based on fear and control, rather than understanding and acceptance. Instead of promoting an open and honest dialogue on these issues, free from moralistic judgments, it seems that some prefer to rely on a sort of digital "Big Brother", ready to spy on every mouse click and transform online browsing into a permanent confession.
Hey, Brooker, there's material for the next one Black Mirror, here. Who knows, maybe one day we will have apps that will also monitor how many times a day we think about something "impure", sending detailed reports to our loved ones. Or perhaps, for the more daring, there will be a premium option that provides an electric shock every time you search for something "inappropriate" online. Because after all, what better way to build a healthy and balanced society than to treat everyone as potential sinners to be constantly monitored?
Let's be clear, pornography addiction is a serious problem that can have negative consequences on people's lives. But perhaps, before turning our privacy into a religious reality show, we should ask ourselves if the solution lies in education, understanding and acceptance of sexuality as a natural part of human life. Or at least, that's what someone who isn't afraid of a few bare pixels here and there would say.
