Cybersecurity

Snowden’s Haven app turns smartphone into anti-spy sentinel (VIDEO)

A new app developed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden promises to harness the surveillance power of your smartphone and turn it into a tiny security system to physically guard your data.

Haven uses the regular features of a standard Android smartphone to detect changes in the environment around the device. The app, which adapts the camera for use as a motion tracker, can also pair with other devices to record sounds or changes in light before sending an alert to the owner – an ideal feature for those looking to ward off unwelcome snoopers.

In a video posted online, Snowden appealed for funds to further the open-source project while hailing it as a means for activists to protect their data without fear of it being hacked or stolen. “We designed Haven as a tool for investigative journalists, human rights defenders and people at risk,” the whistleblower said.

“Haven makes it harder [for parties] to silence citizens through raids, searches, arrests, without getting caught in the act themselves.This creates a kind of herd immunity where before people launch a crackdown they have to think, ‘will I be witnessed in a way that I can’t stop.’”