The 404 Media Podcast Privacy Under Pressure (With Harlo Holmes)
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Feb 23, 2026 
Harlo Holmes, Chief Security Programs Officer at Freedom of the Press Foundation and media scholar, explains secure tools like SecureDrop and practical newsroom defenses. She covers everyday digital safety, threat modeling for journalists, biometrics vs passcodes, gestures to secure phones, protests trade-offs, and rebuilding private online communities in the face of privacy nihilism.
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Three-Track Approach To Press Freedom
- Freedom of the Press Foundation combines legal advocacy, journalism tracking, and engineering tools under one nonprofit roof.
- Harlo Holmes highlights SecureDrop for anonymous sourcing and DangerZone for scrubbing malware from documents.
Toggle Device Security Based On Situation
- Practice situational digital security and change device settings based on context, not a one-size approach.
- Harlo Holmes recommends toggling biometrics off, using quick gestures to disable them, or powering off to reach a fully encrypted BFU state when safety changes.
Learn The Quick Gestures To Lockdown Your Phone
- Learn the quick gestures on your phone to disable biometrics or power it off before an encounter.
- Holmes notes the same gesture can clear biometrics and power off, bringing the device to BFU where full encryption applies.