The way HTTPS works allows for authentication of the received data. Even for "obviously public" data, this is essential: an installation image of Windows could

The way HTTPS works allows for authentication of the received data. Even for "obviously public" data, this is essential: an installation image of Windows could be modified to include malware, or news articles could be edited on the fly during transmission. Once everything is encrypted, the only things that can be known of a request are the origin IP and the destination IP.