Well, in my case knowing that I went to college with Simon, Richard et al, and could most likely arrange a face to face meeting / key exchange at the next Debia

Well, in my case knowing that I went to college with Simon, Richard et al, and could most likely arrange a face to face meeting / key exchange at the next Debian barbecue (hi Steve!) ... Of course, there are still plenty of things to be paranoid about (if I were the faceless security agency I know whose parties I'd have been going to 20 years ago)