National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden has launched an app to step up his fight against digital surveillance. The digital privacy evangelist has launched "what's intended to be a cheap, mobile, and flexible version of a physical security system," according to digital magazine Wired.
The app, which was unveiled by Snowden on Friday, is designed to transform any Android phone into an all-purpose sensor for detecting intrusions.
The app makes use of the phone's cameras, microphones and even accelerometers to monitor for any motion, sound or disturbance of the phone. If you want to check for surveillance in a room while you're away from it, you can pair up the app with direct compatible devices to record sounds, changes in light, and notice if it's being picked up or tampered with. You can even prop the phone up and set up the camera for use as a motion tracker, just for good measure.
This means that now you can leave your phone alone in a room without being concerned about alien attempts to hack into the phone.
The app, designed by The Guardian Project and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, is "for people who need a way to protect their personal spaces and possessions without compromising their own privacy".
Snowden, currently living in asylum in Russia, is president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
"We designed 'Haven' for investigative journalists, human rights defenders, and people at risk of forced disappearance to create a new kind of herd immunity," The Guardian Project wrote on its website on Friday.
'Haven' combines various sensors while leveraging the likes of 'Signal' and 'Tor' communication apps to keep everything as secure as possible.
The Guardian Project is a global collective of software developers, designers, advocates, activists and trainers who develop open-source mobile security software and operating system enhancements.
