Before activation
Before you install VowLock.
VowLock is voluntary self-exclusion software. It blocks selected trading platforms, explicit content, and X/Twitter on an enrolled device for a fixed period chosen by the user.
VowLock does not monitor activity, report to another person, or diagnose addiction.
The user selects the duration and enforcement mode. VowLock enforces that choice on the enrolled device. It does not replace clinical treatment, financial counseling, debt support, or help from other people.
A decision that survives a change of mind
Conventional blockers remain effective only while the user cooperates: the same person can pause, reconfigure, or delete them. VowLock is designed for a decision that must remain in force after the user's preference changes.
Behavioral economics describes a voluntary restriction on future choice as a commitment device. Robert Strotz modeled the underlying problem as time-inconsistent preference: a person's preferred action can change as a temptation moves from the future into the present.1 VowLock applies this model to device access.
- Duration
- When the commitment is allowed to end.
- Enforcement mode
- Which methods of early removal remain available.
Activation creates a signed commitment tied to the device and term. Release requires a matching signed authorization. Changing the device clock or deleting a local file does not end the commitment.
Why trading is inside the boundary
VowLock does not classify long-term investment as gambling or every trader as disordered. It classifies high-frequency and speculative trading as a gambling-like access environment when the user has already identified their participation as compulsive or destructive. The boundary includes reviewed brokers, exchanges, retail prop-firm and evaluation platforms, trading terminals, and known routes back into them. A broader gambling registry is planned but not yet active.
- In a representative Dutch investor survey, 4.4% met adapted criteria for compulsive gambling in financial markets and another 3.6% showed problem-gambling behavior. Trading frequency, derivatives, and leverage were associated with the higher-risk group.2
- A US study found that portfolio turnover remained associated with problem-gambling scores after demographic and financial controls.3
- In an experiment with more than 9,000 consumers, push notifications increased trades by 11% and points with a prize draw increased them by 12%. Those features increased the proportion of risky trades by 8% and 6%, respectively.4
- Interviews with people harmed by cryptocurrency trading document loss-chasing, debt, disrupted sleep, impaired work, damaged relationships, and an inability to support family members.5
Retail prop firms are included as a product decision, not a clinical classification. Paid evaluations, repeat attempts, short performance windows, and access to leveraged trading preserve a route back into the behavior the user chose to block. Reliable public evidence is not sufficient to state an industry-wide evaluation pass or payout rate.
Evidence on self-exclusion
The available research does not establish VowLock as a clinical treatment.
A randomized trial of a seven-day online-gambling self-exclusion found no short-term change in gambling behavior. At two months, participants reported lower gambling-related cognition and craving, but the study did not establish a general or permanent effect.6
A later randomized trial compared standard self-exclusion with an additional nine-month ban on direct commercial solicitations. It found no significant difference in total gambling losses. The extended-ban group deposited less at six, nine, and twelve months, but the difference was no longer statistically significant at eighteen months.7
These findings support self-exclusion as one access-control measure. They do not show that access control works for everyone, that stronger restrictions are always better, or that blocking software replaces treatment and financial support.
What is blocked
VowLock blocks trading, explicit content and X/Twitter together. The three registries remain separate internally for review and audit.
VowLock combines network and name-resolution filtering, managed browser policy, known-application restrictions, process enforcement and device-management controls according to the operating system. The exact registries and matching rules are not reproduced here.
The boundary belongs to the enrolled device; it cannot prevent access through another device or another person.
How early removal works
Duration and reversibility are separate. The installation determines which methods of early removal remain available; the commitment determines when the term ends.
- Early removal allowed
- The operating system retains an ordinary route to stop, revoke or uninstall the protection. No device erase is required.
- Ordinary early removal blocked
- Ordinary pause, uninstall and settings-based escape routes are removed or restricted. Escaping may require recovery tools, erasing the device or restoring its operating system.
Blocking ordinary early removal changes the cost and consequence of reversal. It does not make owner-controlled hardware impossible to recover.
What each operating system permits
| System | Enforcement | Early-removal reality |
|---|---|---|
| Android · early removal allowed | Local DNS VPN and an optional application guard. | The owner can disable or uninstall it. No reset is required. |
| Android · ordinary early removal blocked | Device Owner management, application restrictions and managed browsing. | Ordinary uninstall, safe mode and settings reset are restricted. Recovery or reflashing remains an ultimate escape. |
| iPhone · early removal allowed | A web-filter profile on an unsupervised iPhone. | It can be removed in Settings and cannot reliably block already-installed apps. |
| iPhone · ordinary early removal blocked | Mac-assisted supervision and a profile that cannot be removed in Settings. | Preparation requires an erase. A full recovery restore remains possible and erases the phone. |
| Windows | Automatic service, browser policy, resolver and proxy enforcement, plus reviewed application guards. | A sufficiently privileged administrator or recovery environment can ultimately dismantle the boundary. |
| macOS | Root service, browser policy, network filtering and application enforcement. | Administrator and recovery access remain ultimate bypasses. |
Ubuntu support is planned and is not currently available. Platform capabilities can change with operating-system releases.
Android's fully managed device APIs can prevent factory reset through Settings, safe boot and additional users.8Preparing an existing iPhone for manual supervision requires erasing it; removing supervision through a restore erases it again.9
How a commitment ends
The current paid terms are one calendar month or one calendar year. A supervised-iPhone commitment that blocks ordinary early removal currently supports one month. There is no automatic renewal, and purchasing a key does not begin the term: activation on the device does.
During an active term VowLock does not provide an early release. At the end, the device obtains and verifies the signed release for that commitment. Managed iPhones must reconnect to their supervising Mac so the restrictions can be removed cleanly.
Android with ordinary early removal blocked and Windows cost ₦10,000 for one month or ₦30,000 for one year. Android with early removal allowed and the current public macOS and iPhone alpha builds are free.
Limits
VowLock cannot secure an unenrolled device, recognize every new domain or application immediately, or substitute for treatment and debt support. Mobile installations that block ordinary early removal can require erasing or rebuilding the enrolled device.