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Please explain your reasoning. Why would this site need HTTPS?

falcor84 5y ago
I don't think any explanation about a particular site is needed. I came to believe that we in HN all agreed that mass surveillance is bad and that promoting HTTPS everywhere is the least we can do make surveillance more difficult. Just as no one would want government agents following them around as they go about their day attending university lectures, and just as we wouldn't be happy with that agent asking us "Why, what do you have to hide?", we also shouldn't be comfortable with having our visit to resources on stanford.edu be open to surveillance by every node on the network. In a world where even example.com uses TLS, we can surely expect the same from all Stanford subdomains.
- Zababa 5y ago
  Just to push back on your first paragraph, there is no "we in HN". HN is composed of individual people with various degrees of belief in "HTTPS everywhere" and "mass Surveillance is bad", especially since many people here benefit directly or indirectly from money from mass surveillance.
  - pasquinelli 5y ago
    there are many we's in hn emerging from the headlines we choose to click on.
Supermancho 5y ago
All sites should be using HTTPS. Your phone doesn't audibly broadcast your emails as you send them, your snail mail doesn't come in completely transparent envelopes, and your doors have locks on them. It's minimal security to prevent the injection/filtering of information via MITM and consistent identity (for whatever that's worth). Take just a moment to think about what the site could look like from China without HTTPS, if the CCP was interested: Chapter 12 Propositional Logic Chapter 13 Responsible State Guidance Chapter 14 Using Logic to Design Computer Components Chapter 15 Predicate Logic Now it appears that a notable US institution supporting CCP-sponsored oversight, because someone was too lazy to use a self signed cert.
- jldugger 5y ago
  > Your phone doesn't audibly broadcast your emails as you send them Funnily enough I used to know a blind woman who would use the iOS screen reader at like 4x speed when doing email. > your snail mail doesn't come in completely transparent envelopes You mean like post cards? > and your doors have locks on them. Fair =)

I don't think any explanation about a particular site is needed. I came to believe that we in HN all agreed that mass surveillance is bad and that promoting HTTPS everywhere is the least we can do make surveillance more difficult. Just as no one would want government agents following them around as they go about their day attending university lectures, and just as we wouldn't be happy with that agent asking us "Why, what do you have to hide?", we also shouldn't be comfortable with having our visit to resources on stanford.edu be open to surveillance by every node on the network. In a world where even example.com uses TLS, we can surely expect the same from all Stanford subdomains.

Zababa 5y ago
Just to push back on your first paragraph, there is no "we in HN". HN is composed of individual people with various degrees of belief in "HTTPS everywhere" and "mass Surveillance is bad", especially since many people here benefit directly or indirectly from money from mass surveillance.
- pasquinelli 5y ago
  there are many we's in hn emerging from the headlines we choose to click on.

Supermancho 5y ago

All sites should be using HTTPS. Your phone doesn't audibly broadcast your emails as you send them, your snail mail doesn't come in completely transparent envelopes, and your doors have locks on them. It's minimal security to prevent the injection/filtering of information via MITM and consistent identity (for whatever that's worth). Take just a moment to think about what the site could look like from China without HTTPS, if the CCP was interested: Chapter 12 Propositional Logic Chapter 13 Responsible State Guidance Chapter 14 Using Logic to Design Computer Components Chapter 15 Predicate Logic Now it appears that a notable US institution supporting CCP-sponsored oversight, because someone was too lazy to use a self signed cert.

jldugger 5y ago
> Your phone doesn't audibly broadcast your emails as you send them Funnily enough I used to know a blind woman who would use the iOS screen reader at like 4x speed when doing email. > your snail mail doesn't come in completely transparent envelopes You mean like post cards? > and your doors have locks on them. Fair =)