“The Ministry of National Defense (MND) plans to prohibit the use of Apple’s iPhones in two of its major buildings from August, military officials said Friday,” Lee Tae-hoon reports for The Korea Times.
“They said other smart devices will continue to be allowed after installing a mobile device management (MDM) system that would automatically disable cameras, wireless Internet and recording functions,” Lee reports. “Army Col. Yoon Won-sik, vice spokesman at the defense ministry explained that the MND is reviewing mandating people, including its staff, to leave iPhones in a safety deposit box located outside its buildings.”
Lee reports, “The colonel noted that smart devices running on Google’ s Android OS, an open-source software program, including Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note, will be excluded from its ban as they are compatible with the MDM system.”
“MND officials who use iPhones have expressed strong discontent over the move to ban their handsets as they will need to purchase a new phone and fear that their personal information will be monitored,” Lee reports. “‘I hope the MND will take a more cautious approach over the introduction of mobile device management as this may lead to infringements of our basic rights and possibly a massive leak of personal information stored on its server,’ a military official said on the condition of anonymity.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This is all quite unsurprising considering that Samsung owns South Korea. It’s amazing they allow the sale of iPhones in the country at all.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “M j miller” for the heads up.]
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