Like the TSA at the airport.
Security that we never needed before, but now suddenly we do.
Now we’re dependent on a third party gatekeeper for permission to have a web site.
Free, for now.
It’s a move by the weasels-that-be to turn the Internet into yet another tool for profit and control.
HTTP is like using a postcard, HTTPS is using a sealed envelope. Which would you use for your bank information?
The “third party gatekeeper” does more than just secure data, it also acts as a validation that your site is what it says it is. So if someone jacks your domain out from under you and hosts something totally different, people can tell that something’s up.
99% of us with websites never touch bank information.
But would you be OK taking all the stuff you write on those websites, and scrawling it on a giant chalkboard in your town square instead? One where anyone can see (or even change) what you’ve written?
And http still works in any browser I know of.
I kind of get your frustration though. I set up my personal website precisely to get away from big platforms; yet my HTTPS is validated by Google. It feels like a defeat still having them involved in the process.
Thank you.
Use http and Chrome calls you insecure and there’s a red flag and you have to hit a special button… daunting for the average user for sure.
Firefox is good tho.
One person pointed out that letsencrypt is backed by a bunch of good powerful people. Which might be bullshit but it makes me think again.