Editor’s Note: This product has been removed from viewing as part of this site because it is no longer available. You can still read our original review below, but TopTenREVIEWS is no longer updating this product’s information.
Internet connectivity presents challenges for parents, which is why parental software exists. Social networking sites, cyber-bullies, personal email exchanges and web surfing all threaten children. InternetSafetySoftware.com publishes IamBigBrother and other internet-monitoring applications. IamBigBrother helps parents to monitor a child's internet activity.
The majority of antivirus, antispyware and anti-keylogger applications detect and disable IamBigBrother. So, prior to installation, these types of antimalware apps will need exclusions set up to prevent them from blocking the software. If blocked, the software will not perform its intended functions. Installation of IamBigBrother is fast and simple. Uninstalling the app is complicated and difficult. Our evaluation of the product demonstrated that even after removal, a non-functional remnant of the application could still be loaded into the operating system.
The User Interface (UI) is bulky, dated in appearance and confusing to navigate. Locating the collected data is a challenge. The app lacks a user help button and has no included help documentation. This omission compounds the difficulty associated with viewing gathered information.
IamBigBrother effectively captures screenshots. However, the capture of these images drastically slows the computer. The parental software has some intermittent success at logging visited websites, both sides of chat conversations and keyboard strokes. Evaluations completed by internet users confirm that the reliability of the application is sporadic.
IamBigBrother is included in our review lineup because the software manufacturer offers both remote and local reporting abilities. For an additional cost, Parents can view reports from any internet-connected computer. Additionally, the viewing of reports can occur by physically accessing the child's PC. Other parental control solutions rarely offer this dual reporting feature.
IamBigBrother offers several configurable settings. Parents can specify keywords and key phrases. The application flags any child activity that contains a specified keyword in a log file. Other areas of configuration include the frequency of screenshots, scheduled monitoring, stealth and non-stealth settings.
IamBigBrother monitors both sides of instant messaging and chat. Popular supported applications include AOL instant messenger, MSN, ICQ and Yahoo. The application also records keyboard strokes, accessed applications and a limited amount of a child's computer activity.
The application captures sent and received email exchanges through Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. Support for web-based email like Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail is missing.
IamBigBrother records search engine keywords and accessed websites. However, the app has no date or time stamp capabilities. And no information is available regarding the duration of the visit, which makes it impossible to differentiate if a website visit was intentional or if the child stumbled upon it by accident.
The reporting features of IamBigBrother are tedious and difficult to navigate. This parental software heaps collected keylogger information into a single category instead of sorting it by application. The omission of a search feature further impedes the reporting process. Reading reports is a chore.
The purchase of IamBigBrother licenses the software for installation on a single computer. For an additional cost, parents can access a manufacturer-hosted website to view reports. The product comes with a 30-day refund.
The website lists no contact information. The manufacturer's website does host a limited FAQs section. Users can use a webmail form to contact the manufacturer with support issues. Completed online user evaluations rate the company's support and response time as extremely bad.
IamBigBrother has limited success at capturing keyboard strokes. The website seems a little out of date in that it still refers to Windows 7 as "new." The awkward user interface makes viewing reports difficult. More robust parental software solutions are available.
