Maybe you’ve noticed that Google removed the popular “accountability” apps Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You from its Play store last week.

Maybe you haven’t, and that’s probably for the best.

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What are accountability apps?

These apps can filter undesirable content, such as pornography, and “other questionable material” from devices. More than just filtering, though, they offer to allow someone to be your accountability partner. They can send either immediate alerts or a digest of activity.

Having someone else hold you accountable in your efforts to be productive or curb a compulsive behavior sounds great, right?

Absolutely! If it’s done willingly.

Why were they removed?

And why is this article about Covenant Eyes on a blog about mental health?

During an investigation by Dhruv Mehrotra for Wired, it was discovered that the Android versions of these two apps used the accessibility features of Android devices. Accessibility features are intended to help those with hearing or vision impairments. Unfortunately, these apps used these features to monitor and report all device usage, even innocuous behavior.

That wouldn’t be an issue if your accountability partner is someone you have selected and trust, but therein lies the problem.

Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You have large outreach projects dedicated to getting churches to use the apps. In other words, to assist the churches in controlling and monitoring the behavior of parishioners under the guise of strict adherence to the church’s beliefs.

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Consent versus Coercion

Threatening, pressuring, or strongly recommending, an individual consent to having their digital activities monitored is not consent.

More than just standard filtering and monitoring, Accountable2You also flags LGBTQIA+ content regardless of whether or not it is pornographic in nature. This is the “other questionable material” I referred to earlier. My issue is not that LGBTQIA+ material is blocked or flagged, but that any topic related to it is flagged in a similar fashion to hardcore pornography.

Pressuring people, vilifying them for whom they love, and monitoring all of their digital moves can create intense shame for the individuals being monitored. Particularly if they don’t conform to the heteronormative ideals of some religious organizations.

Shame encourages people to hide, withdraw, or turn to maladaptive coping mechanisms. Therefore, shame can make the initial behaviors worse. More about shame from Dr. Jen here and here.

Google has chosen to remove these apps from their store using violations of their technology policies because condemning them for violating users’ privacy rights is too political. Time will tell if Google steps up in favor of individual rights over appeasing a small but vocal and wealthy minority.

Do you believe you have an online pornography addiction? Then take this free Cyber Pornography Addiction Test (CYPAT) and have the results to speak with your therapist.

What to do about Covenant Eyes after these revelations?

Broadly speaking, if you’re using an accountability app and you feel you were under duress when you selected your accountability partner, it’s time to re-evaluate that relationship and your continued use of the software.

If you still want to use one of these solutions on a non-Android platform, Windows, MacOS, or iOS, they are still available. You can still use them on Android because they can be “side-loaded” using instructions on the company websites.

If you would like a simple, straightforward filtering solution without the shame, check out BlockSite, for desktop and mobile devices.

For those of you who’d like accountability monitoring and filtering, I recommend EverAccountable, for desktop and mobile devices. EverAccountable also uses mental health friendly language in relation to how to handle slips and relapses.

An Important Note about Privacy

The Wired article referenced above also talked about third-parties having access to data from these apps. One, in particular, called Fortify was singled out because the company was cagey about revealing its third-party partners in its privacy policy and it sent the user’s password, along with other data, in plaintext to Facebook.

Transparency in a privacy policy is key and obfuscating passwords is Software Development 101. These kinds of mistakes call in to question the security of the entire app.

I did a quick read through of the privacy policies of both alternatives I mentioned above and saw no red flags, but I encourage you to read through them yourself.

• BlockSite privacy policy
• EverAccountable privacy policy

If you are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, local to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, and need support a great place to start is the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.

Need support and not local to the Lehigh Valley? Check out the LGBT National Help Center.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

The post Why did Google Remove Covenant Eyes? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

While there is some research relating to the experiences of individuals on sex offender registries, there is no published data that specifically looks at the experiences of LGBTQ People on the Sex Offender Registry.

Article originally appeared on the Mitigation Aide Research Archive on June 27, 2022.

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The Survey

A new survey was recently published to gather general information regarding all individuals’ experiences of being on the registry as well as to specifically ascertain the experiences of non-cisgendered individuals. 

The online survey collected data from 964 individuals between March and November of 2020. 

Of all respondents, 20% identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer/pansexual and/or transgender. The authors stated that the percentage of LGBTQ people in the sample was almost 4 times greater than the national estimate of LGBTQ people in the US.

Are you a professional looking to stay up-to-date with the latest information on, sex addiction, trauma, and mental health news and research? Or maybe you’re looking for continuing education courses?

Stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

Summarized Data

• 42% of all respondents reported incomes that were below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.
• 30% of LGBTQ and 20% of straight cisgender respondents were unemployed.
  • This was at a time when the national unemployment rate was between 4.4% to 14.8%.
• The LGBTQ respondents, when compared to the straight cisgender respondents, more often had three or more victims (17% v 9%).
• Almost half of the LGBTQ individuals had a victim who were images vs. less than ¼ of the straight cisgender adults
• 64% of all respondents reported dissatisfaction with their defense
• Over half of all respondents were incarcerated but more LGBTQ individuals were incarcerated than straight cisgender respondents.  (65% v 53%).
• 10% of the LGBTQ individuals reported that the mandated psychological treatment they attended included elements that are known as conversion therapy.
• 66% of all respondents reported being verbally insulted or abused, 45% reported being threatened with violence and 37% were robbed or vandalized and most attributed the motivation for the attacks to their being on the registry. 
• Lifetime suicidality rates are very high (71% total) with LGBTQ people reported a prevalence of 77% versus 69% for cisgender straight respondents. 
• Over half of all respondents reported having supportive family or friends who help them (LGBTQ 59%; cisgender 66%)

Are you looking for more reputable, data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

The Takeaways

What ARE the experiences of LGBTQ People on the Sex Offender Registry?

Overall, the experiences of the LGBTQ persons on the SORNA registry are similar to those of straight, cisgender males.

This study provides implications not necessarily for mitigation at the time of sentencing, but for post-conviction restrictions. As a result of being on the SORNA registry, almost all individuals experience negative consequences beyond their incarceration and probation. 

These negative consequences increase dynamic risk of recidivism. Therefore, less restrictive registry measures would not potentially contribute to an increased risk of recidivism.

Reference: Meyer, I.H., Bouton, L., Maszak-Prato, S, Semple, L. & Lave, T.R. (2022).  LGBTQ People on sex offender registries in the US.  https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/SORS-LGBTQ-May-2022.pdf

Article originally appeared on the Mitigation Aide Research Archive on June 27, 2022.

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

Are you looking for more reputable data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

If you are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, local to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, and need support a great place to start is the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.

Need support and not local to the Lehigh Valley? Check out the LGBT National Help Center.

The post Research: LGBTQ People on the Sex Offender Registry first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Unlike when Ashley Madison was hacked and user data was released, there were no splashy headlines for Grindr this week. Grindr was just being the typical American corporation and Sold Your Data.

I saw the article in the Wall Street Journal and similar articles were published by other news sources, but mostly by those who specialize in tech or data.  

The Background

As someone who works as a therapist for problematic sexual behavior and other similar concerns, this news gave me pause. 

For those who don’t know, Grindr is a dating app that is primarily for the LGBTQ+ community. 

I know it would seem naive in today’s world to assume that there really is any type of internet privacy, but when it comes to our online dating or hook up habits, some privacy would be nice.  

The technical details are this:

• Grindr has been selling user data since at least 2017.
  • In 2020, they stopped providing location data to the advertisers. However, historically, this data was available.
• Users’ private information, such as names and phone numbers were not sold.
• Enough user information was sold that allowed for the inference of romantic hook ups between users just based on their location information.

Are you a professional looking to stay up-to-date with the latest information on, sex addiction, trauma, and mental health news and research? Or maybe you’re looking for continuing education courses?

Stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

The Fallout

A Catholic publication called the Pillar obtained information from Grindr that allowed it to track use by individuals. This led to the outing of a Bishop who subsequently resigned after it was found that he was a user of Grindr. 

In a world where selling our data is the norm, everything you think about seems to pop up on your Facebook feed, why does it matter that Grindr sold users’ information?  Besides the fact that who we choose to date or have sex with is not really anyone else’s business, there are several reasons that this is a problem:

1. There are still several countries in our world where being gay is a crime and can carry severe punishments.

Being outed as a Grindr user in one of these countries could have very serious and possibly life-threatening consequences. 

2. There are still many places and situations here in the US where one’s sexuality being outed can be a threat to livelihood or lives.

The example of the Priest who felt he had to resign is a good example of this type of situation. Expressing his sexuality was, for lack of a better way to put it, against his job requirements.

3. Who we choose to have sex with is truly not anyone else’s business.

If someone is having sex with someone of the same gender or a trans person, that is their personal choice. Who we have sex with, no matter our orientation, is a personal decision and should not be data for public consumption. In a world where the LBGTQ+ community still faces hate and discrimination; this data should particularly be kept private so as to not be used as fuel to further hate.

If you are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, local to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, and need support a great place to start is the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.

Need support and not local to the Lehigh Valley? Check out the LGBT National Help Center.

The post Grindr Sold Your Data first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.