It’s interesting that I’ve never seen a single Korean news article about this. And this is a country where even the petty stupid arguments between neighbors make national news.
So how does this work if a convicted stalker just lives or works within a few km of where a victim lives or works?
Does that transform the victim to the stalker making the stalker the victim and the victim the stalker putting the anklet on the stalker because now they are the victim and the previous victim becomes the new stalker, making the previous stalker the new victim…
kinda poetic.
Victims can open the app and track a tagged suspect’s location and direction of travel once they come within a 2km radius. If that distance falls below 1km, police and probation authorities receive an alert and contact the victim.
seams okay for me
That seems pretty short though, surely it would mean you are not allowed to live, work or even vist the same town they live or work in.
Like if anyone I knew was to be my stalker, one of us would have to quit their job and sell their house to relocate.
Stalking victims frequently have to move regularly to escape their stalkers. Stalkers needing to avoid one town is a minimal restriction for their offense.
The problem is when you think about actual non-stalkers.
I think this is a too rough, crude, gross, extreme, disproportionate and easy to abuse and misused “solution” for that problem.
There are many overly narcissistic and self-centered people who are going to be thinking that anyone who walks in the same direction as they are necessarily an stalker, and then there is the issue of revenge, blackmail, hate crimes and so on that a person can commit with an application of that nature.
No
Then they should have thought of that before they started harassing someone.
But they may not have even done so. This is for alleged stalkers.
2km also essentially allows stalking them if you accuse them. Are they at home? Let’s just walk within 2km and find out. Even just saying a distance and not location would make triangulation easy. Just go to 3 spots and see where the distances overlap. 2 would often be good enough for an educated guess.
I am more in favour of notifying police. 1km is probably still a bit of a wide area although if they are just notified first and only take action if you continue moving closer, say to 200m or so, then it might be more reasonable.
Generally no contact orders work both ways. Neither party cannot go within X distance of each other.
I don’t know how the South Korean legal system works, but this sounds a bit like “release with conditions” we sometime have after arrest in the US.
Reading the article, dangerous stalking seems to be increasing. I hope someone is looking into what’s creating that motivation.
The app’s effectiveness depends on courts ordering suspects to wear electronic tags, something that remains relatively rare in South Korean stalking cases.
Police arrested 29,404 people on stalking charges across 2024 and 2025. Authorities made 1,187 applications for electronic monitoring during that period, but courts approved only 427.
Seems courts are taking the power seriously for the accused.
If they have an ankle monitor, there is probably some sort of proof. Otherwise the app would probably be the least of your worries. Your theory about tracking the stalker is pretty useless because most people want to avoid their stalker at all cost and not track them down.
Also if the police only reached out to you when your stalker is 200m away how would they arrive in time to help you.
That’s a load-bearing “probably”
Its more about notifying them earlier so they can monitor it. If you are clearly moving straight there then they can probably send someone sooner. Rather than automatic catch you for going vaguely nearby.
fascinating take. make it easier for the alleged abusers to get close to the victims.
Ankle tags if anyone is wondering:
That’s a lot cooler than the absolutely nothing they do in the US for stalking victims.
This makes more sense since I was thinking if it’s based on their gps activity from their phone, that can be spoofed lol
This is both a fitting punishment and a nightmare from a privacy perspective
It only shows their location within a certain range.
And considering that this is a punishment for violating someone else’s privacy I can get behind this.
…and a great security/relief for victims. I’m a vivid apologetic for privacy and security, but this seems like an acceptable thing.
People seem to be fine to be transparent and 24/7 surveilleid with their phones. Some even seem to be fine to install doorcams from US-bigtech or spy-devices that can switch on a light. Heck, they even pay for those!
This at least is a vers useful application of privacy invasion.
People seem to be fine to be transparent and 24/7 surveilleid with their phones. Some even seem to be fine to install doorcams from US-bigtech or spy-devices that can switch on a light. Heck, they even pay for those!
yeah, not us
Copy-paste from another comment I did:
The problem is when you think about actual non-stalkers.
I think this is a too rough, crude, gross, extreme, disproportionate and easy to abuse and misused “solution” for that problem.
There are many overly narcissistic and self-centered people who are going to be thinking that anyone who walks in the same direction as they are necessarily an stalker, and then there is the issue of revenge, blackmail, hate crimes and so on that a person can commit with an application of that nature.
You know what? I’m OK with a panopticon specifically for convicted stalkers. I realize the potential for a slippery slope, but I think the risk is worth it in this one case.
then you’ll realize the even bigger slippery slope when you reread the article and discover it is for suspected stalkers
It wont stay confined to stalkers, it’ll start being used for poor people in general.
Trangressions like being late to work will be held against you. You know they will.
Don’t know about you, but I’m already reprimanded if I’m late for work, whether they’re tracking my real time location or not.
uses data from court-ordered electronic ankle monitors
Soo, your line of thought says that we are all gonna gef an ankle monitor? At that point i doubt the app is the kickstarter of the problem…
The article says suspects, not convicts.
And all this means is they’ll be limited to online stalking.
Living on Earth is a nightmare from a privacy perspective.
They have space binoculars pointed at you & AI is allowing them to transcribe everything you say into words even they can understand
How short will Orswell, Asimov, Huxley or Bradbury be…
Aldous would be hunched over from perspective & the weight of understanding.
George is standing tall with a trail of aspiring writers behind him.
Issac is hiding in a cave, pondering the essence of technology.
Ray is floating in a vacuum of space, imagining the concept of oxygen.
All are exactly the same height, 1 book tall. Unless you are counting their bones, which are likely mostly brittle or ash.
Brilliant!
I imagine it makes beeping noises and displays a blip on a radar display like the proximity devices in alien movies. Shudders.
Time to grab the flame thrower
Brother, get the flamer. The heavy flamer.
Now do the same with corporations and ceos
Fun fact: Waluigi is famously the evil version of Luigi
South Korea gives corporate employees app to track their CEO?
Alert! There is a corporation within 1km of your location!
