Ed Snowden's new Haven app turns your old Android phone into a surveillance camera

The NSA's favorite whistleblower, Edward Snowden, is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to disclosing the scope and complexities of government surveillance, but he is also a big proponent of methods to protect ourselves from Big Brother. After endorsing the encrypted messenger Signal, he is at it again with another app that tries to address one pressing matter in user protection - someone gaining physical access to your gear. All the digital security against gaining access to your laptop, for instance, is barely worth it if someone can come and get it then play around with the info on it, if not properly encrypted.

That is why Edward Snowden has released the so-called Haven: Keep Watch app as part of the Guardian Project, turning an old Android phone you have lying around, into an improvised surveillance system of sorts. The app will alert users for movements in the room they left their laptop or other important gear in, will record audio, and can even translate input from the phone's accelerometer to gauge if it's been moved around. It's still in beta, and not perfect, but the idea is undoubtedly practical.