I'm surprised this isn't a lemmy.world comment

Wait, N. Koreans have phones?

This is why my TV is on a separate VLAN (with no internet access) and I use an Nvidia Shield for streaming. I haven't seen any indication that the Shield does anything like this.

Better than recall. No need for special hardware like an NPU, nor does it keep asking you to sign in.

/s

The one I use is FOSS software that largely just stores a dictionary of used words. FUTO Keyboard isn't perfect, but it is decent.

The North Korean government's totalitarianism predates Ninteen Eighty-Four. North Korea might have been an input for Nineteen Eighty-Four, mind...

Graphene is open source. I hope someone who can read what computers digest as code can make sense of it and give it the gold star.

They can't see much through the electrical tape over the lens.

Not the best sources, a phone smuggled by a South Korean-based organization that is funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy and reported by state owned BBC, both of which are enemies of NK, and nothing in this article is verifiable. I'm not saying this to promote anything about NK but just from a journalistic perspective this article doesn't prove much.

Sounds like windows recall...

Looks around modern day

You uh.....you think N Korea is the only ones?

Archived Link

A smartphone smuggled out of North Korea is offering a rare – and unsettling – glimpse into the extent of control Kim Jong Un's regime exerts over its citizens, down to the very words they type. While the device appears outwardly similar to any modern smartphone, its software reveals a far more oppressive reality.
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.

The regime has reportedly intensified efforts to eliminate South Korean cultural influence, which it views as subversive. So-called "youth crackdown squads" have been deployed to enforce these rules, frequently stopping young people on the streets to inspect their phones and review text messages for banned language.

Some North Korean escapees have shared that exposure to South Korean dramas or foreign radio broadcasts played a key role in their decision to flee the country. Despite the risks, outside media continues to be smuggled in – often via USB sticks and memory cards hidden in food shipments. Much of this effort is supported by foreign organizations.

Why doesn't China, North Korea's biggest trading partner, pressure them to be less authoritarian?

frequently stopping young people on the streets to inspect their phones and review text messages for banned language

I'm really tired of people saying "both sides are the same" when it comes to western capitalist exploitation vs eastern totalitarian authoritarianism.

It's ironically so privileged to even make the comparison because if it were the same, you wouldn't have been allowed to make this comment.

in the west too our phones spy on us but everyone knows, everyone thinks it’s bad, and yet nobody cares

All mobile manufacturers could be doing this too. All of the SoCs are proprietary black boxes as are the modems.

I switched off my iphone autocorrect years ago for tge same reasons

I ve heard this a lot, how are modems black boxes?

I call that a normal day at Google or Meta

Did you also build it from source?