Scout - Online Accountability by Scout

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

How it works:

With the "Send Screenshot" button, you can instantly share the page you're viewing with any email address. Each message includes a screenshot, URL, page title, timestamp, and optional personal message. This feature works independently of monitoring, so monitoring does not need to be enabled to use it.

For ongoing accountability, Scout can work quietly in the background. Add websites, specific URLs, or keywords to your monitoring list, and when a match is detected, Scout automatically sends a screenshot and page details to your accountability partner.

With Scout:

• A parent can receive an automatic email notification when their child logs in to do homework
• You can be aware of your partner's social media habits, see who or what they're looking at
• A person can be notified if scout detects pornography, gambling, online shopping, etc.
• With the "Send Screenshot" button users can instantly send a screenshot and a message to who ever they want. It makes sharing links and images via email communication extremely quick and efficient.

How to use:

Monitoring:
• To monitor an entire website, add the website name to the monitoring list (ex: amazon.com)
• To monitor only specific pages on a website, add the page link (ex: https://amazon.com/gEFu2yZY)
• To monitor every instance of a keyword during browsing, simply add the word (ex: shopping)

Send Screenshot:
• Open the Pop up
• Add a recipient email
• Add an optional message
• Press "Send Screenshot" to send whatever is on your screen

Recipients can:

• Opt out of receiving notifications from individual senders at any time
• Opt out of receiving notifications from Scout as a whole at any time

It’s designed to be:

• Private
• Simple
• Safe - your messages go straight from your browser to their email. Scout doesn't keep record of user communications.

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.

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 notifications for when monitoring is enabled, disabled, or uninstalled. 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.