Edward Snowden is making an iPhone case to prevent government spying

By Lewis Leong

Edward Snowden hasn’t owned a smartphone since he began leaking classified NSA documents that exposed the United States government’s global surveil lance program.

That may change soon, as Snowden is now working on a cellphone case that can detect and fight against government snooping.

The case, which Snowden refers to as an “introspection engine” would work by using a phone’s SIM slot to monitor and shut down a phone’s radios in the event of unauthorised access.

The phone case would feature a simple monochromatic screen that alerts users when their phone is broadcasting any signals it isn’t supposed to. The case will even be able to disable all radios on a phone to prevent governments or blackhat hackers from finding your location.

Snowden is collaborating with American hacker Andrew “bunnie” Huang on the project. Huang holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering at MIT and is known for having hacked the Xbox. So far, the phone case is in its design stage but Snowden and Huang plan on creating a working prototype within the year. Their plan is to work with supply chains in China to build iPhones modified with the case to offer to journalists and news organisations.

The introspection engine’s code wil l be open sourced, meaning anyone is free to modify and scrutinise the device.

Airplane mode on our phones claim to disable all communication radios like Bluetooth and WiFi, but the feature has been hacked and spoofed in the past.

Snowden and Huang’s phone case will ensure that a phone’s radios are in fact completely disabled.