Haven turns old Android phones into privacy-respecting home security systems

Martin Brinkmann
Dec 25, 2017
Google Android
|
21

Haven is a free application for Google's Android operating system that turns any Android device into a privacy-respecting home security system endorsed by Edward Snowden, the Guardian Project and Freedom of the Press Foundation.

The use of electronic gadgets in home security is growing, and while you may sleep better knowing that your property is monitored by security systems, there is always the underlying issue of privacy.

Since these devices can record audio and video among other things usually, you may have a nagging feeling in your gut that there is a chance that the recordings or streams fall into the wrong hands. If you don't want to risk that a video of your naked self lands on the Internet, or that data is used by companies for marketing or advertisement, you need to make sure that your privacy is respected.

Haven: Android home security system

haven android home security

Haven is not the first application that turns old computer systems or mobile devices into home security systems, but it may very well be the best for users who want security and privacy.

The basic idea of Haven is simple: turn any Android powered device into a home security appliance, and use the device's sensors for that task. Unlike many other home security systems, Haven keeps thing local and with a strong focus on privacy. Haven records only when things happen and not continuously, and will save the data to the local device and not a server somewhere in the cloud.

Haven works by placing Android devices with Haven running on them in locations that you want to monitor. Place them in your hotel room, living room, entrance, or bed room, and have any disturbance recognized and recorded by Haven.

Haven is open source furthermore so that you can go through the code to make sure nothing fishy is going on, that there are no security issues, and to build the app instead of installing a compiled one.

Haven uses the following sensors in the current version:

  • Accelerometer: phone’s motion and vibration
  • Camera: motion in the phone’s visible surroundings from front or back camera
  • Microphone: noises in the environment
  • Light: change in light from ambient light sensor
  • Power: detect

There needs to be a link between your main Android device and the Android devices that you use for monitoring. While it seems possible to use Haven powered devices without that link, you'd lose functionality such as getting notifications when events are recorded by one of the devices.

Haven can be configured to send sound clips and photos to your main device. You do need to link the phone number however, but Haven uses the secure Signal protocol that uses end-to-end encryption to protect the data against snooping third-parties. Users who want even more security can use the Tor network for that.

You are asked to set thresholds for audio and movement, and need to do some testing to reduce false positive alerts. The monitoring picks up pretty much any noise by default, for instance street noise or noise from a fridge, and if you don't want to get alerts whenever one of your pets strolls through a room, you need to adjust the movement monitoring as well.

Closing Words

Haven requires at least one Android device that you use for monitoring. You can pick up a cheap Android burner device, as you don't need lots of functionality other than what is already built-in anyway in Android devices. The configuration is simple, but you need to do some testing to avoid that you get hundreds of false positives per day.

The location you put the monitoring device in is probably the most difficult decision that you have to make. It should not be too obvious, as it can be picked up by any intruder then easily, but needs to be placed in a location that has a good view of the place you want monitored (provided that you want to take pictures).

Summary
software image
Author Rating
1star1star1star1star1star
5 based on 2 votes
Software Name
Haven
Operating System
Android
Software Category
Security
Landing Page
Advertisement

Tutorials & Tips


Previous Post: «
Next Post: «

Comments

  1. Albert said on August 18, 2023 at 1:49 pm
    Reply

    Thanks for the tip Martin.

    It is for these kinds of posts that I follow GHacks.

    1. Mike Williams said on August 26, 2023 at 8:55 pm
      Reply

      What’s up with the generic comment, are you a bot?

  2. Tachy said on August 18, 2023 at 3:23 pm
    Reply

    2G?

    Where on the planet is that still in use? I was forced to give up using my RAZRV3 years ago because 2G was phased out by AT&T.

    1. arbuz said on August 20, 2023 at 5:02 pm
      Reply

      Everywhere 3G has been turned off and you don’t have LTE coverage, and believe me there are many developed countries where this is the case and if it weren’t for 2G you wouldn’t even be able to make a phone call.

    2. Doc Fuddled said on August 31, 2023 at 5:55 pm
      Reply

      Maybe I missed it, but I don’t believe tha term “2G” is in the article. Perhaps you are referring to “AGM G2”??

  3. Tachy said on August 18, 2023 at 3:27 pm
    Reply

    @Martin

    Your website has gone insane.

    When I the post button I then saw my comment posted on a different article page. When I opened this article again, it is here.

    1. Martin P. said on August 31, 2023 at 4:39 pm
      Reply

      @Tachy @Martin Brinkmann

      ” Your website has gone insane. ”

      Same here. Has happened several times.

      1. owl said on September 1, 2023 at 3:42 am
        Reply

        @Tachy,
        @Martin P.,

        For over two weeks now,
        I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
        https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
        https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
        For the time being,
        it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.

  4. Anonymous said on August 18, 2023 at 11:17 pm
    Reply

    @tachy a lot of non-phone devices with a sim in them rely on 2G, at least here in europe.
    Usually things reporting usage or errors/alarms on something remote that does not get day to day inspection in person. They are out there in vast numbers doing important work. Reliable, good range. The low datarate is no problem at all in those cases.
    3G is gone or on its last legs everywhere, but this stuff still has too much use to cancel.

    Anyhow, interesting that they would put that in. I can see the point if you suspect a hostile 2G environment (amateur eavesdroppers with laptop, ranging up to professional grade MITM fake towers while “strangely” not getting the stronger crypto voip 4G because it is being jammed, and back down to something as old ‘stingray’ devices fallen into the wrong hands).

    But does this also mean that they have handled and rolled out a fix for that nasty 4G ‘pwn by broadcast’ problem you reported earlier this year? I had 4G disabled due to that, on the off chance that some of the local criminals would buy some cheap chinese gear, download a working exploit and probe every phone in range all over town in the hope of getting into phones of the police.

  5. Andy Prough said on August 19, 2023 at 3:04 am
    Reply

    >”While most may never be attacked in stingrays, it is still recommended to disable 2G cellular connections, especially since it does not have any downsides.”

    The downside would be losing connectivity. I spend a lot of time way out in the countryside where there’s often no service or almost none. My network allows 2G, and I need it sometimes. I have an option on the phone to disable 2G, I may do that when I’m in the city and I have good 5G connectivity, but not out in the country.

    I would imagine that the stingray exploits, like most of the bad things in this world, are probably things you will run into in the crowded big cities.

  6. owl said on August 21, 2023 at 3:40 am
    Reply

    I stopped using it in a mobile (Wi-Fi line) environment, so I’m almost ignorant of the actual situation,
    But the recent reality in Japan makes me realize that “the infrastructure of the web is nothing more than a papier-mâché fiction”.
    https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/17/google-chrome-to-enable-https-first-by-default-for-all-users/#comment-4572402

    It is already beyond the scope of what an individual can do.
    What we should be aware of is the reality that “governments and those in power want to control the world through the Web”, and efforts to counter (resist and prevent) such ambitions are necessary.

  7. Anonymous said on August 26, 2023 at 9:27 pm
    Reply

    Why do you want people to disable the privacy features? Hmmmmm?

  8. Anonymous said on August 27, 2023 at 2:30 am
    Reply

    Now You: do you plan to keep the Ads privacy features enabled?

    I’d like to tell you, but apparently if you make a post critical of Google, you get censored. * [Editor: removed, just try to bring your opinion across without attacking anyone]

  9. Tachy said on August 27, 2023 at 5:15 am
    Reply

    @Martin

    You website is still psychotic. Comments attach to random stories.

  10. John G. said on August 28, 2023 at 2:46 pm
    Reply

    @Martin please do fix the comments, it’s completely insane commenting here! :[

  11. ECJ said on August 28, 2023 at 5:37 pm
    Reply

    @Martin

    The comments are seriously messed up on gHacks now. These comments are mixed with the article at the below URL.

    https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/18/android-how-to-disable-2g-cellular-connections-to-improve-security/

    And comments on other articles are from as far back as 2010.

  12. Naimless said on August 29, 2023 at 12:57 am
    Reply

    What does this article has anything to do with all the comments on this article? LOL I think this Websuite is ran by ChatGPT. every article is messed up. Some older comments from 2015 shown up in recant articles, LOL

  13. Paul Knight said on August 31, 2023 at 3:35 am
    Reply

    The picture captioned “Clearing the Android Auto’s cache might resolve the issue” is from Apple Carplay ;)

  14. Anonymous said on August 31, 2023 at 9:57 pm
    Reply

    How about other things that matter:
    Drop survival?
    Screen toughness?
    Degree of water and dust protection?

Leave a Reply

Check the box to consent to your data being stored in line with the guidelines set out in our privacy policy

We love comments and welcome thoughtful and civilized discussion. Rudeness and personal attacks will not be tolerated. Please stay on-topic.
Please note that your comment may not appear immediately after you post it.