Scout - Online Accountability Autor: Scout

Scout – Online Accountability turns online activity into communication with the people you trust.

Scout is an extension that allows users to add specific websites and keywords to a monitoring list. When detected in the user's URL, Scout automatically sends a screenshot of the website (along with the URL, page title, and timestamp) directly to the inbox of an accountability partner set up by the user. There is no dashboard to manage, no external apps, and no stored history. Everything happens directly within the browser, and the screenshots are sent straight from the user's screen to the partner's email.

Most tools in the accountability space are built around shame or "gotcha" moments, and are designed to control people by tracking every last thing they do online. Scout is designed to be a communication tool, not a control system.

How it works:

Scout offers a free tier that lets anyone monitor up to two sites and send alerts to any accountability partner. To unlock unlimited site monitoring and keyword detection, you’ll need to register an email.

With Scout:
• A parent can receive an email notification when their child logs in to do homework
• A person can be notified when bills were paid by their spouse or roommate
• A person can be notified when their partner is online shopping
• When kids agree to screen time limits, parents can verify if they were respected or not

Scout’s monitoring can be turned on and off intentionally. So if the internet is off limits after 9pm, monitoring can be enabled at that time each night.

It’s designed to be:
• Private
• Lowest cost available
• Simple (just add a website + keyword list)
• Shareable (a partner email can be used by multiple people, on multiple different browsers at the same time)

Scout's goal isn’t to shame or spy on every last thing a person does online, but to hopefully be used to support healthy habits, communication, and transparency, unlike other options that strip away privacy in the hope to expose or incriminate a person.

While Scout can monitor every site a user visits by entering “www.” and “.com” into the monitored list, this is always the user’s choice. Users retain full control over enabling, disabling, or changing Scout’s settings at any time. When settings are changed, the accountability partner receives an email showing both the previous and current monitored lists, as well as an emails any time monitoring is enabled or disabled. Accountability only works when it’s voluntary — Scout is built around that principle.

For most people, they don't need a nuclear option when they want accountability, and Scout hopes to serve these people in an inexpensive, lightweight, and flexible way. If you’re trying to build better habits or add an extra layer of transparency to your relationships, Scout can help.

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Scout has official builds for Chrome and Firefox, and the Chrome build is compatible with most Chromium-based browsers, such as Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, Arc, and Vivaldi, which allow installation of extensions from the Chrome Web Store.