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Edward Snowden's Haven app uses your phone to detect intruders
Forget phone calls — a new app from The Guardian Project, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Edward Snowden aims to turn Android smartphones into tiny, unobtrusive security systems. Haven, released today in public beta, was designed to use a phone's built-in sensors to track sudden changes in the environment around it. Let's say you'd like to keep tabs on a room while you're away from it — the app can direct compatible devices to record unexpected sounds, look out for changes in ambient 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.
The UK considers tougher prison sentences for whistleblowers
The UK government is considering new proposals that would drastically increase prison sentences for individuals and journalists found guilty of obtaining or sharing state secrets. In a bid to modernize the Official Secrets Acts, a new espionage-focused law could lead to sentences of up to 14 years, which currently sits at two years and an unlimited fine, for coming into contact with "sensitive information," whether they've acquired it or have been passed it in secret.
Russia will let Edward Snowden stay for another three years
Less than 24 hours after President Obama commuted the majority of Chelsea Manning's 35-year sentence, the Russian government has updated its position on whistleblower Edward Snowden. Local authorities have confirmed that Snowden has been granted another three-year extension to his residency permit, which was first granted in 2013, allowing him to stay in the country until 2020.
Snowden never filed paperwork requesting a pardon
If you thought Obama might give Edward Snowden a similar reprieve to Chelsea Manning this week, think again. While the formed NSA-contractor turned whistleblower has explained why the president should grant him clemency, he hasn't done anything beyond that. "Mr. Snowden has not filed paperwork to seek clemency from this administration," the White House told CNN today.
Congress claims Snowden has been in contact with Russian intelligence
Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who released a trove of confidential documents detailing the massive scope of US surveillance programs, has been accused by Congress of giving information to Russian intelligence agencies. A new report from the US House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) claims that Snowden "has had, and continues to have, contact with Russian intelligence services" since seeking asylum in Russia in 2013. The 33-page report, which was just declassified today, contains a section called "foreign influence" in which the deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's defense and security committee claims that "Snowden did share intelligence" with the Russian government.
Watch Twitter's CEO interview Edward Snowden at 12PM ET
The world's most famous whistleblower, Edward Snowden, will be interviewed by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in less than an hour. Those of you who are interested in watching can do so live via the Pardon Snowden Twitter account, and you can also participate by submitting your own questions using the hashtag #AskSnowden. There are no details on what the conversation will be about, but chances are we'll hear something related to Russia "hacking" the US Presidential election and other things of that nature. Tune in at 12:05PM ET.
Snowden: We rely too much on Facebook for news
Facebook has been under fire this past week for supposedly influencing the election by not doing enough to stop the rise of fake news. In an interview at the Real Future Fair conference, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said that while this is certainly an issue, the real problem here is that Facebook is where most people get their news. "This gets into a bigger challenge, which is lack of competition," he said. "This is a danger of a single point of failure."
NSA contractor arrested for allegedly stealing secrets
The New York Times reports that the FBI quietly arrested and charged an NSA contractor in late August on suspicion of stealing, and potentially disclosing computer code relating to an offensive hacking program designed to break into the network systems of adversarial foreign governments like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
'Snowden' is a simplistic, but important, reminder of NSA spying
When Oliver Stone's Snowden was first announced, it seemed far too soon to be retelling the story of the infamous whistleblower. After all, it was only three years ago that the files Snowden leaked led to the world-shaking revelations of the NSA's massive global surveillance network. That's not nearly enough time for us to make any sort of substantive historical analysis.
House committee: Snowden is a 'serial exaggerator and fabricator'
The US House of Representatives' intelligence committee just releasing a statement condemning Edward Snowden and recommending he be extradited to face justice. After two years spent reviewing the 1.5 million documents Snowden stole and interviewing experts, the committee report rejects his whistleblower claims and attempts to poke enough holes in his story to portray him as a dangerous liar. Obviously, the government has an incentive to downplay his leak's accomplishments and hammer home their threat to the country, but with the ACLU and Amnesty International calling on President Obama to pardon Snowden, it's critical to look past the static of competing narratives.
The Engadget Podcast, Ep 6: I Beg Your Pardon
Managing editor Dana Wollman and reviews editor Cherlynn Low join host Terrence O'Brien to discuss all the latest Apple goodies. Plus they'll talk about Samsung's software bandaid for your exploding Note 7 and debate whether or not Edward Snowden deserves a presidential pardon.
Edward Snowden explains why Obama should pardon him
Edward Snowden laid out the reasons he should receive a pardon from President Obama in an interview with the Guardian, saying that while his actions as a whistleblower were technically illegal, they benefited citizens of the United States. "I think when people look at the calculations of benefit, it is clear that in the wake of 2013 the laws of our nation changed," Snowden told the Guardian. "The Congress, the courts and the president all changed their policies as a result of these disclosures. At the same time there has never been any public evidence that any individual came to harm as a result."
ACLU and Amnesty International ask Obama to pardon Snowden
The American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International, two of the highest-profile human rights organizations in the United States, are calling for President Obama to grant clemency to Edward Snowden. The "Pardon Snowden" campaign kicks off today with a petition to "let President Obama know that the American people stand with Snowden." It's seeking 60,000 signatures and is hosted by the ACLU, which has signed on as Snowden's legal adviser.
Recommended Reading: Snowden's escape from Hong Kong
How Snowden escaped Theresa Tedesco, National Post For two weeks in 2013, the most wanted man in the world hid from authorities. National Post has the story of how refugees helped hide Edward Snowden in the slums of Hong Kong before his eventual escape. This account of those events hasn't been told until now.
Watch Snowden talk 'Snowden' with Oliver Stone next month
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's telepresence world tour has another stop: a conversation following an early screening of the upcoming Oliver Stone biopic, Snowden. The Oscar-winning director will also be a part of the fireside chat, but rather than beaming in from Moscow, according to Deadline he'll be joining from New York. That, in a nutshell, is the difference between being wanted by the federal government and making a movie about someone wanted by the federal government.
New Snowden docs suggest Shadow Broker leak was real
On Monday, a group of hackers calling themselves the Shadow Broker put up a number of cyber-espionage tools reportedly stolen from NSA-associated hacking outfit, the Equation Group. Edward Snowden has already publicly speculated that the intrusion and theft was actually just another salvo in the ongoing Digital Cold War happening between the US and Russia. However, nobody was 100 percent certain that the tools for sale really were NSA property. Now, Snowden has released documentation to The Intercept that suggests the tools really are what the Shadow Brokers say they are.
Edward Snowden speaks out against new Russian law
Whistleblower Edward Snowden has spoken out against Thursday's law introduced by Vladimir Putin, referring to the anti-terror legislation as "repressive" and noting that it's a "dark day for Russia."
Watch the first full trailer for Oliver Stone's Snowden biopic
Less than three years after Edward Snowden left the National Security Agency (NSA) and leaked thousands of classified documents, we're getting our first theatrical depiction of his actions. Following a brief teaser last year, we've now got a full Snowden trailer showing Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the famous whistleblower. The edit gives a comprehensive overview of his life, starting with the military training that was cut short after Snowden broke both of his legs. It then shifts to his career with the NSA, his uncertainty with the government's surveillance capabilities, and finally the decision to reveal its operations to the public through the press.
The NSA spied on Congress, too
Just because the United States said it stopped spying on friendly foreign heads of state like Germany's Angela Merkel, doesn't mean that Uncle Sam actually has. Eavesdropping has actually continued and the list of targets included Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Wall Street Journal reports. What's more, the National Security Agency was caught spying on members of Congress and American-Jewish groups as a direct result, according to WSJ's anonymous sources.
WSJ: China's government wants homegrown, backdoor-free phones
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that China's government has now leant on ZTE to produce a smartphone using predominantly local hardware that'll run COS, a homegrown operating system that's designed to be immune to US-based hacking attempts. The paper goes on to say that Alibaba is now working with the nation's ministry of public security to develop another operating system that's secure enough for police officers to use. It's all part of the country's attempts to put water between itself and the US in a post-Snowden world after backdoors were found in numerous American-designed products.
