If you can shorten the URL, sure. But if data stored in the URL means it needs to be incredibly long, I don't think most users care whether it's readable or not

If you can shorten the URL, sure. But if data stored in the URL means it needs to be incredibly long, I don't think most users care whether it's readable or not. Of course, at a certain length, it's worth reconsidering whether storing all the data in the URL is a good idea.