Famed NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden has just launched Haven, an app for people to transform any Android smartphone into a high-tech security system for detecting intrusions.
Snowden, while currently on the run from the CIA, hiding somewhere in Moscow until 2020, has found enough time to launch his new mobile security app last Friday for the sufficiently paranoid person (e.g. activists, dissidents, journalists, & etc).
"When the lead developer explained the project to his young children, they found another use for it: 'We’re going to catch Santa!' " https://t.co/Beangjk90g
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 23, 2017
Haven is designed to be installed on any Android smartphone, particularly inexpensive and older devices. It operates like a home surveillance system, leveraging on-device sensors to provide surveillance of physical areas. Sensors within the Android phone monitor motion, sound, vibration and light, watching for unwanted guests to notify a user. Combining Haven with an array of sensors in any smartphone, coupled with the most secure communications technologies like Signal and Tor, the app is providing Snowden and other activists around the world with a mobile security system.
The app was developed by Freedom of the Press Foundation, Guardian Project, and Snowden. According to the Guardian Project, the app’s prototype funding was provided by FoPF, and donations to support continuing work can be contributed through their site: https://freedom.press/donate-support-haven-open-source-project/.
According to the Guardian Project, this is how the app works,
Haven only saves images and sound when triggered by motion or volume, and stores everything locally on the device. You can position the device’s camera to capture visible motion, or set your phone somewhere discreet to just listen for noises. Get secure notifications of intrusion events instantly and access the logs remotely or anytime later.
On-device sensors monitor for disturbance, and then logs the data:
- Accelerometer: phone’s motion and vibration
- Camera: motion in the phone’s visible surroundings from front or back camera
- Microphone: noises in the environment
- Light: change in light from ambient light sensor
- Power: detect device being unplugged or power loss
Further, the group explains why Haven is well suited for Android devices and does make the claim, a version for the iPhone is on the horizon.
While we hope to support a version of Haven that runs directly on iOS devices in the future, iPhone users can still benefit from Haven today. You can purchase an inexpensive Android phone for less than $100, and use that as your “Haven Device”, that you leave behind, while you keep your iPhone with you. If you run Signal on your iPhone, you can configure Haven on Android to send encrypted notifications, with photos and audio, directly to you. If you enable the “Tor Onion Service” feature in Haven (requires installing “Orbot” app as well), you can remotely access all Haven log data from your iPhone, using the Onion Browser app. So, no, iPhone users we didn’t forget about you, and hope you’ll pick up an Android burner today for a few bucks!
If one of the sensors was triggered, a notification would be sent to one of the following platforms:
- SMS: a message is sent to the number specified when monitoring started
- Signal: if configured, can send end-to-end encryption notifications via Signal
My partner has been testing Haven for a few months with a spare phone. Every time you open the closet, it sends a picture by Signal. In addition to impressive intrusion detection capabilities, you can also use it to send helpful reminders! ? https://t.co/FHi1bjFsLP pic.twitter.com/IS58HzDVha
— lex.txt (@lex_is) December 22, 2017
As for Snowden, he remains in an asylum somewhere in Moscow until 2020 when his residence permit expires.
With the launch of Haven, it seems as Snowden is attempting to change the calculus of risk for when US authorities come hunting for him once more.
If all else fails, Snowden might have just invented a baby monitor for the broke millennial.
Truly brilliant... any old (or current) phone can become an inexpensive home security device, or ANYWHERE security device for that matter! I just hope the aluminum foil on my head (to keep the guvamint from monitoring my brain waves [all two of them]) won't set it off and trigger a false alarm!
I just woke up from a nap and found myself in The Twilight Zone.
<Now if I can just figure out which episode, I'll be good to go.>
Don't you just HATE IT when that happens?
This will be banned soon, so grab it while you can.
JooAway is a better name
WTF? Really????
Funny, I thought this is what Snowden's former employer does to every phone in the world 24/7/365. I mean, isn't that why we have them in the first place?
except Haven gives the data to you, instead of the NSA
In the good old days, hackers wrote their own code. Then one day "hackers" became people who downloaded someone else's code and trusted it.
I miss the good old days.
Snowden releases Haven. Well, it's better than nothing. But why aren't there hundreds of thousands of coders out there writing their own versions? What is it? Video Codecs, Audio Codecs, a few Digital and Analogue I/O ports. None of this shit is new any more. It ain't that hard when you have access to the right information.
They stole the whole lake and now we're supposed to feel grateful when they give us a glass of water. Fuck you guys! I want my lake back.
I'm making over $15k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is what I do.... http://disq.us/url?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.Jobzon3.com%3Ab8eR_DQLwGRPVGtFvv...
It will be available on YANDEX or something :)
the answer is obvious..
never sleep..
Never get off the boat.
Boattrash fully agrees with you.
Sleep with one eye open.
Already do - my Japs eye though......
The word Paranoid was made popular by the CeeIgAy to be able to label negatively their gaslighting and stalking victims.
If they are after you, for standing against injustice, you are simply being a cautious realist.
Snowden's app will work if the "company" is not after you. They have the keys to all the phones, computers and devices.
RIP Ian, we know (((they))) murdered you.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Murdock
No fear folks.
I'm not paranoid! I KNOW in my Heart (cold and lifeless as it may be) that my '77 Coupe d' Ville is gonna start tomorrow morning come rain or come shine! Radio Moscow is coming-in if I turn my head just right in the kitchen window and face Northwest.
I'm not paranoid, but how would I know Haven will not connect to all my devices and steal all my data?
I upgraded my tinfoil hat to a titanium one.
There's probably still a backdoor in this as well...
If it interfaces with a mass market operating system, it most likely does.
"Probably" and "if"
Hah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
LOL
My intent was to be as gentle as possible during the holidays. I'll put my game face back on after Jan 1. ;-)
That's what all my HS friends said about our backdoor... turns-out my mom was selling them all drugs. Oh silly me!
"There's probably still a backdoor in this as well..."
Yes, its called a non-rooted Android OS.
It is open source -- go read the codebase and get back to us.
https://github.com/guardianproject/haven
Is the hardware open source? If the hardware if backdoored then it matters not at all what software you install upon it.
His working with the Guardian leaves a whole lot to be desired and says it's probably smart to stay away.
No, thanks
S'okay.
Commenting on ZH is a direct line to the Deep State.
Say what you will.
I believe all electronic communications are monitored in real time these days not that that bothers me what bothers me is soon that job will be taken off humans.
Resistance is futile.
They collect metadata on everyone.
Pardon Snowden.
Collect it back, they are registered knuckleheads.
"As for Snowden, he remains in an asylum somewhere in Moscow"
An insane asylum?
Would not trust this app or the phone it is running on. Or Snowden.
Android? Google. Alphabet. Deep State.
Someone serious enough is going to kill cell phone signals before entry.
Snowden and Assange news on same day. What a coinkydink. They are twins from different mothers.
Snowden and Assange chastised Trump for firing Chief Truth Finder Comey.
Embrace your paranoia.
Accept it as part of your life essence.
Be ONE with the Deep State.
The ZH app.
Back in 1998 I used a webcam and remote software for a security system. Simple, free and effective.
We are The Borg.
We are the Deep State.
Snowden is 3 of 12.
If you could send Snowden back in time to explain his infraction against the USA to James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, I am pretty sure they would say he did it in the spirit of their Bill of Rights.
Send along with him two submarines for Jefferson to clean the Med/Atlantic of inbound slave ships. Call it "Long Cotton Countdown".
A great movie script ... said no one in Hollywood.
What? I need that right meow. It's made for me.
CIA dirt bag Snowden.
Paranoia runs deep, right suckers?
Lemme guess. Coded by an Israeli software house...
The app is very buggy and doesn't work at all on many brands of phones. Also, it uses Signal and Tor. All a government has to do to make the app worthless is to block these two services, like China did years ago. You would think they would fix a few things before they start bragging about it.
I use an old smart phone and Skype.
Get a new Hotmail address. Put Skype on the phone. Turn off all sounds and vibration. Enable videochat. Set Skype to autoanswer for only the mobile phone you will be calling from. Conceal the phone where you can run a wire to keep a charger going and line up the camera with a peephole. Connect it with Wi-fi if you can.
To check on your home or business, just call the phone and watch and listen.
It does not have motion detection, but it is free. Everybody has an old smartphone in a drawer somewhere.
Hah! The only mobile phone in my possession is an old Nokia, weighing in at around 3Lbs!
Same here. Love the brick. Too bad the Fins sold the company as they were on top of the game then.
I'm not paranoid but am a bit of DIY-type. I'm going to try out you idea :-)
Finally!!
An app for the perpetually paranoid personality like myself!