7 ms·

Snowden's Haven [1] is simply marvelous. Essentially, it turns an Android phone into a very sophisticated alarm system with real time notifications and streami

by nextos 8y ago

Snowden's Haven [1] is simply marvelous. Essentially, it turns an Android phone into a very sophisticated alarm system with real time notifications and streaming. So you can e.g. protect a hotel room using an old burner Android phone. I use it against some creepy UK landlords and agents, who have the strange habit of breaking into rented flats when I'm not in, and without any prior notice. Totally illegal, but very hard to collect evidence against. Furthermore, contracts usually contain (illegal) clauses preventing you from installing a real home-alarm system. (Edit: contracts usually also ban changing locks). It's also much better than any cheap alarm system, and totally complementary too. If something starts beeping (e.g a fire alarm or a motion sensor), Haven will notice and message you. [1] https://f-droid.org/wiki/index.php?title=org.havenapp.main&redirect=no https://f-droid.org/wiki/index.php?title=org.havenapp.main&r...

yulaow 8y ago
Partially related, I had the same problem with the landlord and just changed the door lock keeping also the old one in a box. So until I live here I am the only one with the key, when I transfer I change back the door lock and the landlord is again the only one with the key. In my state the Landlord can do nothing against this exactly because it is illegal for him to enter without my permission so it is also not necessary (and a forced request is illegal) to give a copy of the key of the new door lock to the Landlord.
- nextos 8y ago
  Sadly most UK contracts include a clause where they explicitly ban you from changing locks without providing them with a key. If they discover you have changed locks, you will get evicted immediately. It's pretty sad. In my home country, it's a very serious crime if your landlord breaks into your house for no reason. Actually, landlords generally do not keep a key to the property during tenancies precisely because of this.
  - rahimnathwani 8y ago
    I don't believe your experience is typical. I've signed dozens of rental agreements in the UK, mostly as a landlord but also as a tenant, and the agreements have been drafted by several different agents. Not one of these had included a clause about changing locks. And also the part about "you will get evicted immediately" is nonsense. The process to evict a tenant takes time: the landlord need to serve notice, then wait X days for a response, then apply to the court, who will then (assuming the landlord has followed the law to the letter) issue an judgement, and then the landlord still cannot have you forcibly removed until some period has passed and they have applied to the court for an enforcement order. If you have had the experience you describe with more than one landlord in the UK, I'd suggest you look through a different agent next time.
    - nextos 8y ago
      I disagree. I have been renting in Oxbridge with the grand total of 7 different high street agents: Savills, Bidwells, Cheffins, Parkers, Alistair Redhouse and another I can't remember. They all included this clause. Only Savills and Alistair Redhouse were professional and caused no problems. Savills was actually a pleasure to deal with, but extremely expensive in terms of fees. The fees were clear from the beginning, though. The others are, as far as I am concerned total scammers. I won 3/3 cases in the Ombudsman, so I say this for a reason. Cheffins went as far as taking all my deposit to cover some debt the landlord had with them. And of course they didn't tell me. Simply no reply, no deposit. Even the Property Ombudsman freaked out.
      - rahimnathwani 8y ago
        Wow. This is shocking. I've only once rented a flat in Oxford. It was over 10 years ago, so I don't recall the details, but I do recall having to argue with the letting agent about changing some wording which was totally unreasonable. Perhaps the situation is different in university towns, where lettings agents often dealing with naive tenants who have never signed a lease before.
  - Accacin 8y ago
    I've rented for about seven years and never seen a clause like this. Advice is to change locks when you move in and put them back when you leave. The landlord can't evict you because of this, and the only reason they'd know you've changed the locks because they've tried to enter the house when you're not there.
  - segmondy 8y ago
    Well, change the entire door. I bet it doesn't have anything against changing the door.
- mehrdadn 8y ago
  > I had the same problem with the landlord and just changed the door lock keeping also the old one in a box. Don't landlords need to be able to enter their property during an emergency?
  - im3w1l 8y ago
    No. If there's an emergency they can call 911.
    - brewdad 8y ago
      Expect a bill for a new door.
    - mehrdadn 8y ago
      And they have to just sit there idling and watch their house burn up/flood/etc. until 911 finally comes around?
      - soperj 8y ago
        uhhh what were they going to do? Unlock the door and stop the flood?
        mehrdadn 8y ago
        > uhhh what were they going to do? Unlock the door and stop the flood? "When your bathroom has flooded, the most important thing to do is to shut of your water as soon as possible. If you don’t know how to do it, it’s good to call a plumber and hopefully they can help you shut it off over the phone before they get to your house to assess damage. If the leak is coming from a toilet or sink, there is usually a knob near the pipes that you can turn to the right and shut off. You will also need to shut off the electricity of the flooded rooms with the main breaker. If you see sparks or smell gas vacate your house and call the fire department, only going back in until they tell you it is safe." https://texashomeandgarden.com/idea-center/bathroom/bathroom-floods/ https://texashomeandgarden.com/idea-center/bathroom/bathroom...
dyukqu 8y ago
> breaking into rented flats What? That's so...weird. Why tenants don't change the locks on the main doors as they move in? Is it also because of the contracts?
- wungsten 8y ago
  I can't speak for the UK, but my leases have definitely stipulated that you can't change the locks without notifying the landlord and providing them with a key.
  - usesgentoo 8y ago
    That's really allowed? In my country it is your right to change the locks, If the landlord keeps a key and you have proof of that, then he even has to pay for the new lock.
    - cyphar 8y ago
      In Australia (with a standard rental agreement in NSW) you can change the locks (though I think you need to ask the landlord for permission if it's not an emergency) and you have to provide a copy of new keys to your landlord within 7 days. Landlords aren't allowed to enter your home unless its an emergency or they are planning on selling the home and have given you ample warning (and you've agreed). I believe this is just one of those things that is significantly different between different countries. All of that being said, I don't understand why changing the locks makes a difference. It's very easy to ask a locksmith to open the door for you, especially if your name is on the title (not to mention that most house locks are trivial to pick anyway). Whether or not the landlord has a key is mostly immaterial, what matters is whether it is legal for them to use it (because picking the lock would arguably have similar legality).
- blfr 8y ago
  I certainly don't change the locks and I'm surprised that people have such adversarial relations with their landlords. My landlady has the keys, organizes the cleaning lady to come (and gives her the keys), I'm pretty sure she even once dusted and washed the dishes in the sink herself when she was watching over some crew cleaning the ducts. The whole benefit of renting is not being burdened with owner's problems. Hard to achieve when they can't access the apartment.
ancymon 8y ago
The page you've linked says "This app is disabled and does not appear in the repo". So it's not really available at F-Droid. Do you know why?
- pepsi 8y ago
  Haven might not be in the main F-droid repo(?), but you can add theirs to install it. It’s also on the google play store and the source is available to build it yourself. https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/ https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/
- jacoblambda 8y ago
  Based on the wiki it's because the last build of it failed for whatever reason.
- robotbikes 8y ago
  So it's actually part of the guardian project, which is a separate repository of also open-source apps and you can enable the guardian repository inside of f-droid and then it will be installable.
- nextos 8y ago
  There are many F-Droid repositories aside from main F-Droid. Please see here: https://forum.f-droid.org/t/known-repositories/721 https://forum.f-droid.org/t/known-repositories/721 https://guardianproject.info/ https://guardianproject.info/ one is particularly interesting. Haven is a Guardian Project app.
beefield 8y ago
> This app is disabled and does not appear in the repo
- eleitl 8y ago
  Seems they're changing things https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/ https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/
- bbb91 8y ago
  Using the F-Droid app: Settings > Repositories > Enable "Guardian Project Official Releases" Then search for "Haven" and install the app.

by nextos 8y ago

yulaow 8y ago

Partially related, I had the same problem with the landlord and just changed the door lock keeping also the old one in a box. So until I live here I am the only one with the key, when I transfer I change back the door lock and the landlord is again the only one with the key. In my state the Landlord can do nothing against this exactly because it is illegal for him to enter without my permission so it is also not necessary (and a forced request is illegal) to give a copy of the key of the new door lock to the Landlord.

nextos 8y ago
Sadly most UK contracts include a clause where they explicitly ban you from changing locks without providing them with a key. If they discover you have changed locks, you will get evicted immediately. It's pretty sad. In my home country, it's a very serious crime if your landlord breaks into your house for no reason. Actually, landlords generally do not keep a key to the property during tenancies precisely because of this.
- rahimnathwani 8y ago
  I don't believe your experience is typical. I've signed dozens of rental agreements in the UK, mostly as a landlord but also as a tenant, and the agreements have been drafted by several different agents. Not one of these had included a clause about changing locks. And also the part about "you will get evicted immediately" is nonsense. The process to evict a tenant takes time: the landlord need to serve notice, then wait X days for a response, then apply to the court, who will then (assuming the landlord has followed the law to the letter) issue an judgement, and then the landlord still cannot have you forcibly removed until some period has passed and they have applied to the court for an enforcement order. If you have had the experience you describe with more than one landlord in the UK, I'd suggest you look through a different agent next time.
  - nextos 8y ago
    I disagree. I have been renting in Oxbridge with the grand total of 7 different high street agents: Savills, Bidwells, Cheffins, Parkers, Alistair Redhouse and another I can't remember. They all included this clause. Only Savills and Alistair Redhouse were professional and caused no problems. Savills was actually a pleasure to deal with, but extremely expensive in terms of fees. The fees were clear from the beginning, though. The others are, as far as I am concerned total scammers. I won 3/3 cases in the Ombudsman, so I say this for a reason. Cheffins went as far as taking all my deposit to cover some debt the landlord had with them. And of course they didn't tell me. Simply no reply, no deposit. Even the Property Ombudsman freaked out.
    - rahimnathwani 8y ago
      Wow. This is shocking. I've only once rented a flat in Oxford. It was over 10 years ago, so I don't recall the details, but I do recall having to argue with the letting agent about changing some wording which was totally unreasonable. Perhaps the situation is different in university towns, where lettings agents often dealing with naive tenants who have never signed a lease before.
- Accacin 8y ago
  I've rented for about seven years and never seen a clause like this. Advice is to change locks when you move in and put them back when you leave. The landlord can't evict you because of this, and the only reason they'd know you've changed the locks because they've tried to enter the house when you're not there.
- segmondy 8y ago
  Well, change the entire door. I bet it doesn't have anything against changing the door.
mehrdadn 8y ago
> I had the same problem with the landlord and just changed the door lock keeping also the old one in a box. Don't landlords need to be able to enter their property during an emergency?
- im3w1l 8y ago
  No. If there's an emergency they can call 911.
  - brewdad 8y ago
    Expect a bill for a new door.
  - mehrdadn 8y ago
    And they have to just sit there idling and watch their house burn up/flood/etc. until 911 finally comes around?
    - soperj 8y ago
      uhhh what were they going to do? Unlock the door and stop the flood?
      - mehrdadn 8y ago
        > uhhh what were they going to do? Unlock the door and stop the flood? "When your bathroom has flooded, the most important thing to do is to shut of your water as soon as possible. If you don’t know how to do it, it’s good to call a plumber and hopefully they can help you shut it off over the phone before they get to your house to assess damage. If the leak is coming from a toilet or sink, there is usually a knob near the pipes that you can turn to the right and shut off. You will also need to shut off the electricity of the flooded rooms with the main breaker. If you see sparks or smell gas vacate your house and call the fire department, only going back in until they tell you it is safe." https://texashomeandgarden.com/idea-center/bathroom/bathroom-floods/ https://texashomeandgarden.com/idea-center/bathroom/bathroom...

dyukqu 8y ago

> breaking into rented flats What? That's so...weird. Why tenants don't change the locks on the main doors as they move in? Is it also because of the contracts?

wungsten 8y ago
I can't speak for the UK, but my leases have definitely stipulated that you can't change the locks without notifying the landlord and providing them with a key.
- usesgentoo 8y ago
  That's really allowed? In my country it is your right to change the locks, If the landlord keeps a key and you have proof of that, then he even has to pay for the new lock.
  - cyphar 8y ago
    In Australia (with a standard rental agreement in NSW) you can change the locks (though I think you need to ask the landlord for permission if it's not an emergency) and you have to provide a copy of new keys to your landlord within 7 days. Landlords aren't allowed to enter your home unless its an emergency or they are planning on selling the home and have given you ample warning (and you've agreed). I believe this is just one of those things that is significantly different between different countries. All of that being said, I don't understand why changing the locks makes a difference. It's very easy to ask a locksmith to open the door for you, especially if your name is on the title (not to mention that most house locks are trivial to pick anyway). Whether or not the landlord has a key is mostly immaterial, what matters is whether it is legal for them to use it (because picking the lock would arguably have similar legality).
blfr 8y ago
I certainly don't change the locks and I'm surprised that people have such adversarial relations with their landlords. My landlady has the keys, organizes the cleaning lady to come (and gives her the keys), I'm pretty sure she even once dusted and washed the dishes in the sink herself when she was watching over some crew cleaning the ducts. The whole benefit of renting is not being burdened with owner's problems. Hard to achieve when they can't access the apartment.

ancymon 8y ago

The page you've linked says "This app is disabled and does not appear in the repo". So it's not really available at F-Droid. Do you know why?

pepsi 8y ago
Haven might not be in the main F-droid repo(?), but you can add theirs to install it. It’s also on the google play store and the source is available to build it yourself. https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/ https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/
jacoblambda 8y ago
Based on the wiki it's because the last build of it failed for whatever reason.
robotbikes 8y ago
So it's actually part of the guardian project, which is a separate repository of also open-source apps and you can enable the guardian repository inside of f-droid and then it will be installable.
nextos 8y ago
There are many F-Droid repositories aside from main F-Droid. Please see here: https://forum.f-droid.org/t/known-repositories/721 https://forum.f-droid.org/t/known-repositories/721 https://guardianproject.info/ https://guardianproject.info/ one is particularly interesting. Haven is a Guardian Project app.

beefield 8y ago

> This app is disabled and does not appear in the repo

eleitl 8y ago
Seems they're changing things https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/ https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/
bbb91 8y ago
Using the F-Droid app: Settings > Repositories > Enable "Guardian Project Official Releases" Then search for "Haven" and install the app.