OWASSO, Michigan—AVN wrote about the anti-porn tracking software Covenant Eyes back in 2009, but a small current story about a man who stole a church’s computer has brought the software whose success is built on shame and fear back front and center, and it reminded us once again that charging people to have God watch their every click is as American as apple pie.
This case exemplifies that ideal. At first, it was a complete mystery who had stolen a computer from the Owasso First Assembly of God Church in Owasso, Oklahoma. The cops were stumped: nothing else was taken and no discernible break-in had occurred. It looked like an inside job to church employees but no one could point to a suspect. But God was on the case.
According to a local radio station, “OPD didn't get a break into the case until [a] church employee was contacted by a tracking software company. Covenant Eyes told the employee somebody had been trying to look up pornography on the computer.”
That somebody turned out to be Troy Ridling, who used to attend church services there and obviously liked a computer he saw, which he also obviously knew had tracking software on it, but maybe that didn't occur to him until after he stole it.
“Police say Ridling even contacted Covenant Eyes to try and get them to take down the monitoring software on the computer,” reported krmg.com. “He was denied and the call allowed officers to track him down. Once in custody, Ridling tried to deny stealing the computer despite officers finding the device at his home. Police say he did finally confess to the theft.”
Clearly, Ridling—who should know better than to convince a cop that the computer sitting in the corner is an illusion—wouldn’t have ever confessed to the crime if God had not been tracking his every movement by way of Covenant Eyes tracking software, which is exactly what it was created to do.
Score another one for the all-seeing eye. “With so many inappropriate websites and Internet temptations, what we do online impacts our lives offline,” reads copy on coventeyes.com. “Covenant Eyes provides Internet solutions to protect your integrity online.
"Our Internet Accountability software monitors how the Internet is used and sends a report to the person you select, such as a friend, parent or mentor,” it continues. “This online transparency helps you think twice about how you use the Web.”
Rilding thought about things. He thought about stealing the computer, and then did it. Then he thought about the porn, and then looked it up on the computer. (Maybe that’s why he stole it in the first place!) But then he thought about that darn Covenant Eyes, which he knew was on there tracking his every click, because they want you to know God is watching everything, and then he thought about calling Covenant Eyes to ask them to remove the software, and he did it. And then he got caught.
Either way you look at it, Covenant Eyes is designed for dummies the less-capable and seems to work like a charm. The company expanded in June of this year with the acquisition of another “Internet monitoring and parental control” company, Saavi Accountability of Gardner, KS.
In a press release announcing the acquisition, Covenant Eyes CEO Ron DeHaas said, “Saavi has helped many men and many families escape the grip of pornography. Saavi has been an innovator in developing Internet monitoring and parental controls, and we are delighted that Saavi is joining Covenant Eyes in the fight against Internet temptation.”
And burglary.
