American whistleblower Edward Snowden and Andrew “Bunnie” Huang has been busy developing a mobile phone case. However, this isn’t just a regular phone case, its one that can inform you whenever your smartphone is transmitting information that could be monitored.
Called the “Introspection Engine”, this phone case is able to connect to a phone’s different radio transmitters. Once connected, the case would then be able to inform its owner when a cellular, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection is being used to share or receive data. While the function of the “Introspection Engine” is limited to just monitoring connections, the device can be developed to act as a “kill switch” that would disconnect a phone’s power supply when it detects that a radio is transmitting data after its owner has attempted to turn it off.
While the phone case seems promising, both Snowden and Huang has said that there’s no guarantee that the “Introspection Engine” will ever be more than a mockup. However, should they be able to secure funding for this device, both men intend to release the device in partnership with the Freedom of the Press Foundation media advocary group as Snowden says that the phone case was designed to help protect journalists.
Source: The Guardian