Edward Snowden unveils phone app, Haven, to spy on spies

In this Feb. 14, 2015 file photo, Edward Snowden appears on a live video feed broadcast from Moscow at an event sponsored by ACLU Hawaii in Honolulu. Snowden, a former National Security Agency worker, who leaked classified documents about government surveillance,  unveils a new phone app he helped create – Haven, which aims to protect laptops from physical tampering.(AP FILE PHOTO)

NEW YORK — The former National Security Agency contractor who exposed United States government surveillance programs by disclosing classified material in 2013 has a new job: app developer.

Edward Snowden in a video message on Friday unveiled a new phone app he helped create – Haven, which aims to protect laptops from physical tampering.

Snowden said it is an open-source tool designed for human rights activists and other people at risk and it uses an Android phone’s sensors to detect changes in a room.

The software was developed with the Freedom of Press Foundation and the Guardian Project. It has been greeted with mixed social media reactions, with some people celebrating its security capabilities and others saying they do not trust Snowden.

Snowden has lived in Russia since 2013, when the country gave him asylum, resisting US pressure to extradite him.                        /kga