press rank #178 · ~$1,569/mo

Can you live unwatched in North Korea?

Restricted press and civil liberties, ranked #178. Not individually assessed beyond public indices.

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The privacy scorecard

State surveillance2/5
Facial recognition2/5
No national ID1/5
Data-protection law1/5
Encryption2/5
VPN freedom2/5
Democracy1/5
Free expression1/5
Cash still works4/5
Financial privacy2/5
Crypto freedom2/5
Easy to stay1/5
Off-grid living3/5
12 cameras / 1,000 people press rank #178 ~$1,569/mo national average

Childhood vaccines: we could not verify this one

The 194-country survey of vaccination law left North Korea out for lack of any public policy document, and so do we. Coverage itself fell to near zero in 2022 and is being rebuilt with UNICEF.

Source: no public source exists

Legal & financial exposure

Facts about the law, not a privacy score: whether each one helps or hurts depends on what you are trying to do.

Does not report your account balances abroad

No extradition treaty with the US

ID required to buy a SIM card

4 of 7 signals are unverified for this country: not shown, rather than guessed.

10 real places in North Korea

Facial recognition, Bitcoin friendliness and cost vary by city even inside the same country.

Pyongyang

~$1,680/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Hamhung

~$1,600/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Chongjin

~$1,600/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Nampo

~$1,500/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Wonsan

~$1,600/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Sinuiju

~$1,390/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Kaechon

~$1,500/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Kaesong

~$1,610/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Sariwon

~$1,610/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Tanchon

~$1,600/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 1/5

Weigh North Korea against your own threat model

Surveillance, speech, money: filter thousands of real places across every country and see where North Korea actually ranks.

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Not just privacy?

Arcadia matches the same real places against how you actually want to live: weather, cost, healthcare, schools, internet.

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Country-level estimates for orientation, not legal advice. Surveillance law changes fast: verify anything you would act on.