Big Mother

Definition - What does Big Mother mean?

Big Mother is a slang term that refers to modern technology that parents can use to monitor their children. The range of Big Mother technology is quite large. Some examples include:
  • Geolocation
  • Cell phone spy software
  • Nanny cams
  • Purchase tracking software
  • Car chips and cameras

Techopedia explains Big Mother

In George Orwell’s “1984,” the term Big Brother was used to refer to the totalitarian state in which every movement and every action was being watched by the government. Big Mother is that Orwellian vision with a parental twist. While this technology does put anxious parents at ease, it also tests boundaries beyond the parent-child relationship. One example is how geolocation data can be used to check whether another adult who is driving a child somewhere is speeding while the child is in the car.

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