NSA whistleblower Snowden creates app to protect laptops

Published on December 24, 2017

Earlier this year, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed to Jacqueline Moudeina, the first female lawyer (in Chad) that he was working towards creating a new app that would turn a mobile device into a motion sensor. The application would be designed by him to notify the users whenever their devices or systems are being hampered with. The app would further inform its users whenever someone had entered the rooms or moved their things without their consent. After going through months of the development process, the application is finally here.

According to a report by The Verge, the application – which is called Haven – is meant to send notifications to users on their primary device when their laptops are being hampered with. This is especially helpful when individuals tend to leave their laptops at home or in a hotel room. The Haven application is designed to detect any motion, light or movement. This way, any suspicious activity taking place during the user’s absence can quickly be taken care of.

The motion sensor device goes a step further and captures pictures, records videos, and audios, in case the suspicious activities start making a wrong turn. The best part about the data that is recorded through the device is that the notifications received on the primary device are end-to-end encrypted over Signal. In other words, none of the information is stored in the Cloud. Thus, there is no way that other individuals could get access to the report.

Snowden recently revealed that he hadn’t made use of a smartphone since 2013. He has spent the last couple of years examining different devices and the danger they hold to the audience. In 2016, he struck a partnership with hardware hacker, Andrew ‘Bunnie’ Huang on Introspection Engine. Through this, he managed to create a phone case that monitors iPhone outputs and alerts users when their device is sending signals through its antenna.

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