In 2013, whistle blower Edward Snowden revealed the government uses technology to spy on US citizens. He was a hero to many. He was a traitor to others. But Snowden isn’t going away. Edward Snowden designs smartphone security.
Snowden is helping design an iPhone case that does more than prevent glass breakage. This case prevents governments, corporations, hackers, nosy family members and friends, and anybody else from spying on smartphones. Snowden believes smartphones are easily traceable. He and Andrew Huang work on a case connected to the phone. This case alerts the user when the phone makes transmissions. The case’s wires connect to the SIM card slot and read other smartphone components. The case has it’s own computer and display. The display alerts the user of any suspicious activity, no matter where it’s coming from. They nickname this case ‘introspective engine’. They submitted this patent at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Well, Huang did. Snowden is still living in Russia. He’s still virtually held hostage there a US fugitive. Nonetheless, Snowden promoted ‘introspective engine’ through a video conference. This introspective engine case is literally in it’s infancy. No smartphone company has dared picked up the idea. We don’t even know what MIT Media Lab thinks about it.
We’ll just have to stay tuned to this one. I believe Snowden and ?Huang’s hearts are in the right place. They want to do everything they can to stop spying. They want to ensure your privacy rights. I respect and applaud this. But is it practical? People can just use airplane modes. Some are turning off their smartphones whenever they’re not in use. How can their privacy be invaded when it’s not even on? Snowden’s device just warns you when you’re being invaded. It just doesn’t interfere and fight off the invaders. That’s just what’s wrong with this device, so far. Personally, I hope they can get it patented, back, and sold. It’s one more weapon against surveillance. We can never have too many of those. Does the ‘introspective engine’ have a chance?