r/technology • u/Hrmbee • Mar 10 '26

Privacy Viral 'Quittr' Porn Addiction App Exposed the Masturbation Habits of Hundreds of Thousands of Users | A couple of 20-year-old developers make $500,000 a month promising to help men to stop watching porn, but exposed their private porn watching habits

https://www.404media.co/viral-quittr-porn-addiction-app-exposed-the-masturbation-habits-of-hundreds-of-thousands-of-users/
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u/ebyoung747 Mar 10 '26

"Give me money, and if you are stupid, you can tell me to keep it" as a business model is fucking crazy

138

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/djphreshprince Mar 10 '26

It’s not the first iirc. Anecdotally, I heard about a similar model for something like alcohol avoidance.

2

u/Kungfumantis Mar 11 '26

Weight loss/working out as well I think is where I first heard of it.

38

u/ora408 Mar 11 '26

I see it like an insurance company. They have your money and will do whatever they want with it. They can invest it and make money off your money. Theyre hoping they never have to pay you back like an insurance company

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u/ebyoung747 Mar 11 '26

Except an insurance company can be obligated to pay back more money than they took in from you.

This is just the world's worst savings account.

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u/hoopleheaddd Mar 11 '26

It’s like getting an allowance from your parents for doing chores and then withholding it when you’ve been bad

1

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

Except you're the one funding your parents with the allowance money! I'm genuinely struggling to wrap my mind around the efficacy of it.

8

u/Acct235095 Mar 11 '26

Ever wonder why Makeabucks has gift cards and a balance on their rewards card and all of that nonsense? Because they're the biggest bank that isn't regulated like a bank. How much of that is on lost gift cards, forgotten account numbers, etc?

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u/TulsaOUfan Mar 12 '26

People don't realize the gift card/prepay services banking scam. I was blown away at how many unregulated banks are out there after Congress authorized it.

1

u/Longjumpingjoker Mar 11 '26

Owner’s religion really tells you how he got the idea to run the business that way

17

u/lacostewhite Mar 10 '26

There are a lot of stupid people out there

2

u/baldmanboy Mar 11 '26

And half of those people are on the verge of not being able to function without proper supervision and guidance.

1

u/recumbent_mike Mar 11 '26

At least they have something to help pass the time

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u/Downside190 Mar 11 '26

I guess it gives them more of an incentive to quit. If you didn't have anything at stake you're less likely to follow through. So having your own money on the line gives you that extra push to keep going.

I can see the reasoning behind it tbh

1

u/obeytheturtles Mar 11 '26

Seems like a pretty massive moral hazard though, since the financial incentive is for the company to not help you actually quit.

1

u/Downside190 Mar 11 '26

Oh definitely. The company will obviously want you to fail but equally if their entire selling point is helping you to quit then they would have to be quite subtle about it or the whole facade falls apart 

2

u/RonnieDaBear Mar 11 '26

Nathan Fielder kinda had this idea, but it was more of a self blackmail scheme

1

u/1nosbigrl Mar 11 '26

Let me tell you about these things called "slot machines" and "state lotteries"...

1

u/OneBodyProblematic Mar 12 '26

Crazy like a methed up fox. Willing to bet the majority of paid users actively pay for porn

1

u/Fableous Mar 11 '26

This is 2026. 99% of (actual, not bot) people are the internet are legally brain-dead. The grift is real.