Gizmos & Gadgets: Worried About Violations of Your Privacy? Check out Haven

December 23, 2017 – In a world where bots and hackers make us increasingly uncomfortable when online, consider a new app aimed at your physical security. It is called Haven, a product of the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Guardian Project whose president is Edward Snowden. The app works with Android smartphones, which means the vast majority of cellphones in use around the world today can download and try it. Essentially what it does is turns your phone into a motion, sound, vibration and light detector using all the technology built into Android hardware.

Who should use Haven?

From the Haven website, it states the audience as including “investigative journalists, human rights defenders, and people at risk of forced disappearance.” But there are really many more users for this app. Haven turns a smartphone into a security system for any hotel room when you are on the road, or for your home, or to monitor a baby’s room.

Snowden, who has lived in Moscow since 2013 because he is wanted by the U.S. Justice Department, in a recent interview told Wired Magazine, “Imagine if you had a guard dog you could take with you to any hotel room and leave it in your room when you’re not there. And it’s actually smart, and it witnesses everything that happens and creates a record of it.” That sums up how Haven works.

Haven uses the technology in smartphones. In fact, it really is a misnomer to call these devices smartphones considering all the technology on board. They are personal assistant devices which contain multiple core processors, gigabytes of storage, two high-definition still and video cameras (one front, one rear), several microphones, multiple radios and signal processors, touch screens and connectivity through WiFi, Bluetooth, and telecommunications interfaces with access to a library of downloadable applications.

Snowden and Micah F. Lee, his development partner, created Haven to be a safe room that fits in a pocket.

Lee writes, “Here’s how Haven might work. You lock your laptop in a hotel safe — not a secure move on its own — and place your Haven phone on top of it. If someone opens the safe while you’re away, the phone’s light meter might detect a change in lighting, its microphone might hear the safe open, its accelerometer might detect motion if the attacker moves the laptop, and its camera might capture a snapshot of the attacker’s face.” 

I don’t know about you but typically when I travel I’m not that paranoid about leaving my Chromebook in my hotel room with it password secured and shut off. But I can see from Snowden’s personal experience why he might see the potential for skullduggery.

But for a sleuthless use of the app consider using it as a baby monitor. When Haven is placed near the crib and the baby starts to cry the app can send out SMS (short message service) alerts. And because Haven is open source it is capable of communicating using open-source tools such as Signal or Torso sending the alerts in encrypted format. It’s not that Haven needs to use encryption to let you know your baby is crying, but at least you know that no hackers or botnets can intercept any Haven created content.

Related articles across the web

• Edward Snowden created an app that turns smartphones into security systems aimed at thwarting spies