Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. You still need WebChaver for several reasons:

• A filter is only as secure as the password it uses. It is not uncommon for members of the family to find out or figure out the password. Covenant Eyes cannot be disabled by a password, it logs everything continuously.
  
  
• Many filters are weak and can be bypassed by anyone with a little computer know-how. Covenant Eyes is extremely difficult to bypass even by the advanced techie, and any attempts to do so are reported to the partner.
  
  
• Statistics show that some filters fail to block as much as 30% of inappropriate and even pornographic sites. The stronger keyword filters (that tend to slow down connections considerably) still miss as much as 5% of inappropriate sites (equivelant to millions of websites).
  
  
• Filters (especially the stronger ones) can slow down your computer speed by as much as 85%. The Covenant Eyes software that WebChaver uses is designed not to affect your browsing speed in any noticeable way.
  
  
• Filters have been found to block 6 -10% or more of material that they should not block. This causes frustration when legitimate sites are not available. Stanford University News Release (Jan. 2003)
  
  
• The line drawn between appropriate and inappropriate sites on a filter is not decided by any Rav or Daas Torah. It is an arbitrary standard decided by some company or university. Many sites that they consider permissible may be terribly damaging in a Frum home. WebChaver puts you in charge of what parts of the Web are viewed in your home and which are not.
  

WebChaver encourages using a filter in addition to the Accountability system as added protection, but not as a primary safeguard. See our Filtering page for more info.

Yes. Our Sages tell us (Bava Basra 57b) of a person who has a choice of two paths to follow, of which one passes an area where there are women not properly dressed and the other does not. If this fellow chooses to walk down the first path, he is considered wicked (Rasha) – even if he closes his eyes the whole time and didn’t see a thing! One is to avoid any temptation (Nisayon) whenever possible. One who chooses to go to a place where there is temptation, even if he successfully conquers his inclination and does not sin, he is considered by our Sages a wicked, evil person.

Without a system of Internet Accountability in your home, the Internet is an open area of temptation (Nisayon). Even if today no one uses it, tomorrow may be different. And even if no one will ever use it inappropriately, the temptation (Nisayon) was sitting in the middle of the house, when another path without temptation (Nisayon) existed. What would Chazal say about that?

No. Covenant Eyes© is a for-profit company, created by religious people with similar concerns to those of the Jewish Orthodox community. They have created a very reliable and effective system to help people with the dangers of the internet. WebChaver is working hard to bring this viable solution to the Orthodox community customized for our needs.

Once installed, the CE software monitors websites that your computer visits. Whenever Internet access is attempted, you will be asked to log in (or you can configure it easily to log in automatically). Once logged in, your Internet activity will be monitored and periodically emailed in a report to the Accountability Partner(s) you choose in the Signup Procedure. The information is scored specifically for pornography and presented in an easy-to-read Accountability Report. Internet access is never blocked unless your computer is not correctly logged in.

CE software monitors the user's Internet use which is sent to the Accountability partner on a weekly basis. Accountability Partners are trusted individuals selected by the member to review reports and discuss how the Internet is used.

WebChaver is not a filter, but provides effective monitoring of websites your computer visits. You choose who views your reports. Some examples of uses are as follows:

• Parents monitor where their children go on the Internet to train them in responsible use.
  
  
• People with Internet addiction use the program for accountability.
  
  
• Businesses use the program to reduce productivity losses (According to IT research firm Gartner, non-work-related Internet surfing results in an estimated 40% productivity loss each year for American businesses.).

Yes. Once you install the CE program, all of the Internet activity on that computer will be monitored by CE servers and periodically passed on to the Accountability Partner(s) you choose in the Signup Procedure. The list is scored specifically for pornography. Internet access is never blocked by the accountability program when you are logged in. However, websites can only be accessed by your computer while it is properly logged into CE; this feature allows you to log out, thereby blocking unauthorized use of your computer.

CE monitors all web surfing and newsgroup activity, and detects and reports filesharing and FTP usage. CE is also the only program to effectively monitor and report searches, personal sites, and blogs, such as Google searches or MySpace.com sites.

CE works regardless of your Internet connection and does not depend on what ISP you use. For instance, you can use a laptop on DSL at work, take the laptop home to your dial-up connection, and it works seamlessly .
Once installed, all users of your computer will need to be logged in. This can either be done automatically or manually.

The monitoring is based on the WebChaver username logged in, not on the computer being used. Once you have a username, you can log in on any computer that has CE installed. The program can be used in a shared-computer environment such as an office. For instance, if you log out and leave a computer, another person can come and log in with their username and all of their Internet use will go onto their report, not yours.

Filtering provides blocking without accountability. Monitoring provides accountability without blocking. For more information about filtering, visit our Filtering page.

Filtering attempts to block a person from viewing potentially harmful websites, not hold the viewer accountable. Most filters use a "black list" of known websites that are deemed to be objectionable. If the site you attempt to visit is on the "black list," it is blocked; if it is not on the "black list," it is allowed. Surveys indicate that "black lists" fail to include 5 to 30 percent or more of harmful sites.

WebChaver never blocks access to desirable sites, and is extremely difficult to bypass. A record of sites visited is stored by username. This record or "Accountability Report" is sent by email to the Accountability Partner(s) on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. WebChaver reduces temptation and eliminates the secrecy of using the Internet. WebChaver works!

Please also see our page on the advantages and disadvantages of both filtering and accountability

Yes. CE monitors anonymizers and circumventor websites.

The program is designed to record and give high scores to anonymizers and circumventor websites. Generally, these websites are designed to allow a person to surf without having their surfing history recorded on the computer. For a number of these sites, CE will also monitor the sites visited through the anonymizers. In all cases, the web address is captured and reported. Each website is scored.

Yes. In many cases you can tell what a site is just by the URL. However, in cases like Youtube, Google Images and similar pages, the URL itself does not indicate the content. This is why we have the Covenant Eyes scoring system. The scoring system reads the content of each individual page and generates a numerical score based on the cumulative result.

Because YouTube and Google Images do have a lot of mature content readily available, CE typically flags sites like this with a base score of '8' (somewhat mature). Any objectionable content found on the particular page will drive the score up higher. With Youtube, obscene comments will factor into the scoring as well.

For true Internet accountability, there are a number of advantages WebCHaver holds over merely using the history on your computer.

• The history on your computer is very easy to delete. One of the key aspects of WebChaver involves the logs being nearly impossible to delete as activity is stored on the Covenant Eyes© servers and not on your own computer.
  
  
• The history on your computer does not score the sites. Some very innocent-sounding sites are actually objectionable, and only through accurate scoring can they be detected as being unacceptable or mature.
  
  
• It is cumbersome to look through the history. The Accountability Report provides a fast, easy-to-read format which highlights at the top any sites which are objectionable. You don't need to look through the entire history.
  
  
• For the computer-savvy, there are ways of bypassing the history which are not available with WebChaver.

No. The Covenant Eyes program is designed to prevent access to the Internet if you do not log in to the program. If you have not logged into the Covenant Eyes program, you will only be able to access www.covenanteyes.com. This will allow you to retrieve the CE phone number or email address to contact Technical Support. All other websites are blocked until Covenant Eyes login takes place.

The CE program is designed to be extremely difficult to disable or bypass. Accountability is only effective when you are being monitored. The technology used to prevent tampering and circumvention is from the strongest we have seen. However, by definition, any software protection has certain intrinsic weaknesses that if not properly prevented, can be used to circumvent the system. If you feel that someone in your household is determined/curious enough to research and employ such methods, we suggest following these additional steps (click here).

Attempting to disable the CE program may result in serious damage to your computer. WebChaver and Covenant Eyes are not responsible for any damage done to the operating system by attempts to circumvent the Covenant Eyes program, per the User Agreement.

Attempting to disable the CE Program may result in your Internet access being blocked.

To safely uninstall Covenant Eyes, a valid uninstall code (available from our website, by logging in to your account) must be obtained. The uninstall code is only valid on the day it is obtained. The request will appear on the member's Accountability Report and the Accountability Partners are notified that the program has been temporarily or permanently uninstalled.

Yes. Please contact us if you would like to enable this restriction on your account.

In general, there will be no noticeable change in your computer's performance. Some programs, such as spyware or certain other applications, may be incompatible with Covenant Eyes, possibly resulting in slower speeds. If this occurs, the CE customer support team will be happy to assist you.

During the installation process you will be asked if you want Covenant Eyes to log in automatically for you. The caution with this configuration is that anyone who turns on your computer could access the Internet, and their Internet activity would show up on your Accountability Report.
If you didn't do it on installation, it can be done at any time. Right-click on the blue CE logo in your task bar, then click "Configure," then check the box that says "Have Covenant Eyes log in automatically for me." This feature can be disabled by un-checking this box.
If you occasionally need to prevent unauthorized use, disable the auto Log In (see above) and then log out as needed. While you are logged out, anyone else who uses your computer would need to Log In to access the Internet (they would need to know your username/password or they would have to have their own).

WebChaver currently offers a monthly payment plan. The cost is $4.99 per month, and can be paid using a credit card or a US bank account. There is no minimum time commitment, you may cancel at any time.

If you are interested in creating a group with a large number of members, you may contact us for information on discounted pricing.

A username is a unique identifier for you. For security purposes, we recommend you select a username with at least 6 characters using a combination of numbers and letters. You will also need a password that cannot be easily guessed. The combination of your username and password uniquely identifies you with WebChaver and Covenant Eyes©. All other personal information remains confidentially with us, protected by our Privacy Policy.

Both your username and password are case-sensitive. While it is customary for usernames to be all lower-case, it is not necessary. However, once a capital letter is registered, it must always be entered that way.

One or more persons may share a single username or each person may have their own.

A family or a group does not necessarily need multiple usernames. If you simply want your whole family or group to be accountable with one username/password, you may choose to do so. But in that case, only one report will be generated, and you may not be able to tell who was using the computer. So carefully decide which approach (one username or multiple usernames) is best for your group or family.

Yes, the CE program may be installed on up to 5 computers or mobile devices at no additional cost. Once you have a WebChaver username and password you can use them to log in on any computer that has the Covenant Eyes© program installed. When you log in with your username and password, all of the activity will go on your Accountability Report even though you are on a different computer. That way, you only need one username regardless of where you are.

To log in, simply right-click on the blue CE logo in your taskbar, click "Login," and enter your username and password. To log out, right-click on the blue CE logo in your taskbar and click "Logout." This security feature prevents unauthorized use of the Internet on your computer.

No. There is no extra charge for additional computers or mobile devices (up to 5). To add the Covenant Eyes program at no extra charge on additional devices, go to our Download page and follow the instructions. Again, the cost is per username, not per computer. So, for example, for one username (and one low price) you can have WebChaver working on your computer at home, on your computer at work, and on any other computer you use.

Please visit our Reports page for full coverage of this subject.

Reports are sent weekly. However, you or your partner can access reports and detailed logs of activity at any time on our website by creating a login.

Click here for information about how to analyze high scoring sites.

The answer depends on each individual situation, but for many households it would be sufficient to have the weekly report sent to the head of the household, who would monitor the use of the family computer(s). In many cases an outside partner would be unnecessary. In other scenarios it may be advisable to have a friend, or someone else as the monitoring partner. Use your individual judgment to determine which way works best for you and accomplishes the goal of ensuring a safe web experience for the entire family.

An accountability partner or Chaver is the recipient of the Accountability reports. You can choose who this should be. They can include parents, family, trusted friends, mentors, Rabbonim, husbands, wives, counselors, or other trusted and concerned individuals who are committed to helping the WebChaver user.

Please login to the WebChaver Member Center, and click on the Chaverim tab. There you will be able to add and remove patners as well as send an additional request if your partner has not yet reponded. In order to begin receiving the reports, the WebChaver Partner(s) will be sent a sign-up email from WebChaver. This email will contain a link to confirm their acceptance of this role.

There is no charge to your Partner(s) for this service.

• The email address given by the user could have been typed incorrectly during sign-up. In this case the WebChaver member will need to request you as a partner again.
  
  
• The email service put the Accountability Partner invitation into a "SPAM" or "Bulk Mail" folder.
  
  
• The partner invitation email can take up to 24 hours to be generated.
  
  
• By accident, you may have deleted the Accountability Partner invitation from your inbox.
  

• Check your email.
  
  
• Check the "SPAM" or "Bulk Mail" folder for a message from WebChaver.
  
  
• Email WebChaver for assistance.
  
  
• Talk to the friend that asked you to be an Accountability Partner and ask them to request you as a partner again.
  
  
• In your spam filter make sure reports@webchaver.org and accounts@webchaver.org is added to your safe list.

Because reports provide scoring, partners and users can easily identify questionable websites, searches, links, and more. The report shows trends for websites viewed and bar charts that show the times of day and night when the Internet is used. Covenant Eyes© is simply the strongest, most frequently updated accountability service available.

NOTE: There may be valid reasons for visiting a high-rated site. The name of the site, the type of site, and other factors must be taken into account. Some sites are rated high due to their ability to link to inappropriate sites and are not necessary insidious on their own. Ultimately, a partner should have a good relationship with the user, and dialogue should be the final determinator.

Click here for information about how to analyze high scoring sites.

No. There is no cost to the Accountability Partner(s) chosen, and there is no cost for adding the program to additional computers you use. If you are an accountability chaver, you can create a free account on WebChaver to generate reports and detailed logs, by clicking here.

High-scoring sites appear occasionally on just about everybody's Accountability Reports. However, in general, it is pretty easy to discern motivation. Click here for information about how to analyze high scoring sites.

We firmly believe that for the vast majority of user’s, the problem is altogether prevented by the knowledge that someone can see where they have gone. As Chazal say (Brachos 28b), “If only our fear of Heaven was as great as our fear of our fellow man”.

The CE Program is compatible with any Internet connection including: dial-up, DSL, LAN, network, wireless, and cable modems.
The Covenant Eyes© program is also compatible with most firewalls and proxy servers.
You can even carry a laptop from your DSL at the office, to dial-up at home, and then to a remote location such as a wireless hotspot, and Covenant Eyes© continues to work transparently.

WebChaver works regardless of which browser is used (for instance, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc.).
You can even have multiple browser windows open at the same time and CE monitors them all.

Yes. You can download the Mac version here.

• Supports MAC OS X Tiger through Mountain Lion
  
• Fast User Switching Supported
  
• Checks for Upgrades Automatically
  
• Supports Intel Macs
  
• Same Reports as our PC version
  
• Same Signup as our PC version
  
• Same Low Cost as our PC version
  
• Adding extra computers is free of charge! - You can mix PC & MAC for no extra charge!
  
• Your accountability partners do not need to be MAC users!

• WebChaver will monitor every Windows user profile. With one username, the browsing activity for each profile will show on one Accountability Report—making it difficult to discern who visited the websites.
  
  
• For the browsing activity of each individual user to be separated, a WebChaver username must be in place to separate the logs from the other users. The browsing activity is not tied to the Windows user profile, but to the WebChaver username.
  
  
• For each Windows user profile, you can have CE automatically log in on that profile, or you can have CE prompt you to log in every time a profile is opened. If the second option is selected, it allows for the browsing activity to be recorded under the proper username regardless of the Windows user profile a person is using. The second option is recommended.
  
  
• Covenant Eyes installs itself onto all Windows user profiles upon initial installation.

Yes, Covenant Eyes supports Vista and Windows 7. However, the Windows Vista Parental Controls conflict with the Covenant Eyes program and must be turned off (if you have enabled them) before installing the Covenant Eyes program.

Yes, there is a Beta version for Windows 8. The information for downloading and installing CE for Windows 8 can be found here:

http://www.webchaver.org/info/windows8.php

Covenant Eyes currently supports Android, iPhone, iPad and the iPod Touch. We recommend the Android system over the iPhone if you have not yet purchased a device. The accountability options available in the Android system allow for superior accountability. 

The app for other platforms (Blackberry and Windows Phone) is still under development. We will notify our users when support for other platforms becomes available.

For information on using WebChaver on your mobile device as well as alternative suggestions for other devices, please see our Mobile Device section: http://www.webchaver.org/mobile.php

Login to your account and click on "My Filter". After entering a password, (if you have set one), you can add websites to your "allowed" list. Generally, when entering the URL of the website, do not use the prefix "www". For example, "www.webchaver.org" would be entered as "webchaver.org".

After making any changes to your filter settings you will need to logout of the CE client software and re-login in order for the changes to take effect. This can be accomplished by right-clicking on the CE icon and clicking "Sign Out" and then "Sign In", or by restarting your computer.

Login to your account and click on "My Filter". Add the following URL's to the allowed list (be sure to specify http or https):

• http://gmail.com
• https://gmail.com
• http://video.google.com
• https://client4.google.com
• https://mail.google.com
• https://maps.google.com
• https://ssl.gstatic.com
• http://mail.google.com
• https://mail.google.com

After making any changes to your filter settings you will need to logout of the CE client software and re-login in order for the changes to take effect. This can be accomplished by right-clicking on the CE icon and clicking "Sign Out" and then "Sign In", or by restarting your computer.

WebChaver allows you to create a password specifically for your filter settings which can be different than the password you use to login to the Accountability system. If you set a different password for your filter settings, you can prevent anyone from making overrides if they do not know the password.

The " Filter Guardian" is a special status that we can set for your account which allows you to override sites blocked by the filter using you regular WebChaver password. It is not enabled by default since most users do not want this.

If you would like the filter Guardian status enabled, please let us know.

Please see previous question.

If you find that the filter is blocking too many sites for you, even on the lightest setting, we suggest activating the "Allow Overrides" option. This will allow you to override the filter when a site is blocked, with a single-click and without having to enter a password. Since our filter is working together with the Accountability system, it is generally safe to allow this feature, since all activity is monitored and reported on the Accountability report regardless. With this configuration, the WebChaver filter is simply an extra measure of security to prevent unintentional stumbling into an inappropriate website.

Please see our age-based filtering levels page for more information.

Yes. Under "Filter Settings", change the "Filter Type" to "Restricted". This setting will block all sites except for "Covenant Eyes", "WebChaver" and any sites that you specify in the "Allowed" list.

Yes. Under "Time Control" you can set a limit on the number of hours the internet can be used, as well as between what times of each day. Please be sure that you set the timezone settings correctly, so the time limits will be accurate.

Yes. Under "Protocol Blocking" you can restrict access to certain forms of internet usage. The following options are available:

• FTP - File Transfer Protocol: Often illegal software and pornographic material is downloaded in this way, but it is also used as a legitimate form of uploading and downloading to and from websites.
• NNTP - Used for Internet News groups.
• P2P - Peer to Peer Internet File sharing. A tremendous amount of inappropriate/illegal software and pornographic material, video and images are available for download if P2P is enabled.
• IRC - Internet Relay Chat allows chat, such as MSN, AOL or Yahoo Messenger etc.