Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
The phone was featured in a BBC video, which showed it powering on with an animated North Korean flag waving across the screen. While the report did not specify the brand, the design and user interface closely resembled those of a Huawei or Honor device.
It's unclear whether these companies officially sell phones in North Korea, but if they do, the devices are likely customized with state-approved software designed to restrict functionality and facilitate government surveillance.
One of the more revealing – and darkly amusing – features was the phone's automatic censorship of words deemed problematic by the state. For instance, when users typed oppa, a South Korean term used to refer to an older brother or a boyfriend, the phone automatically replaced it with comrade. A warning would then appear, admonishing the user that oppa could only refer to an older sibling.
Typing "South Korea" would trigger another change. The phrase was automatically replaced with "puppet state," reflecting the language used in official North Korean rhetoric.
Then came the more unsettling features. The phone silently captured a screenshot every five minutes, storing the images in a hidden folder that users couldn't access. According to the BBC, authorities could later review these images to monitor the user's activity.
The device was smuggled out of North Korea by Daily NK, a Seoul-based media outlet specializing in North Korean affairs. After examining the phone, the BBC confirmed that the censorship mechanisms were deeply embedded in its software. Experts say this technology is designed not only to control information but also to reinforce state messaging at the most personal level.
Smartphone usage has grown in North Korea in recent years, but access remains tightly controlled. Devices cannot connect to the global internet and are subject to intense government surveillance.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Subsentient on Wednesday June 04, @11:40PM (1 child)
It's called Windows Recall
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 3, Touché) by corey on Thursday June 05, @10:38PM
Bah, knew someone would get in before me!
(Score: 4, Funny) by HeadlineEditor on Thursday June 05, @12:47AM (3 children)
... than, say, the Western method of installing Israeli spyware and just monitoring your phone 24/7. Screenshots? How quaint!
(Score: 4, Funny) by Barenflimski on Thursday June 05, @12:51AM (2 children)
They probably figured it was better to have 10,000 people review photos manually then to have 100k people riding bicycles to keep the AI running.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05, @03:03AM (1 child)
You mean like this?: https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/06/03/1954225/ai-startup-revealed-to-be-700-indian-employees-pretending-to-be-chatbots [slashdot.org]
(Score: 3, Touché) by anubi on Thursday June 05, @03:59AM
I find that hilarious.
I wonder if hospitals noted a spike in admission of patients presenting with split sides.
And a lot of embarrassment in various corporate board rooms when this got out.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05, @03:28PM
From the outside perspective it's comical. And from the inside perspective, it's like the the absurdist Trump administration. This is what it's like serving the ultra wealthy.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday June 05, @05:35PM
It sounds like the North Koreans aren't as tiresome to deal with as our own Californians.
The grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.