On Oct 3, 2011 11:48 AM, "Steven Walling" <swalling@wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Wikipedia Enables HTTPS for Privacy in Browsing
> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/wikipedia_enables_https_for_privacy_in_browsing.php
> By Marshall Kirkpatrick
>
> Wikipedia visitors can now leverage a new level of security and privacy
> regarding their reading habits, thanks to the site's newly announced support
> for HTTPS browsing. Ryan Lane, a Wikipedia Operations Engineer, writes that
> HTTPS "allows you to visit our sites without having your browsing habits
> tracked, and you can log in without having your password or user session
> data stolen." Visitors seeking to navigate the site securely can simply
> visit https://en.wikipedia.org to begin.
>
> Wikipedia has made several steps away from the growing trend of encouraging
> users to share their data with one another, in some cases explicitly
> contrasting the giant encyclopedia's policies and ethos with Facebook's.
>
> "Things like sharing what you're reading, that's where Facebook bumps up
> against the line of what people find slightly weird and creepy," Wikipedia
> Co-founder Jimmy Wales said in an interview with the Huffington Post's
> Bianca Bosker last week. "If I go to read something on Wikipedia, that's my
> own personal business...You should feel safe and private knowing that
> whatever you want to learn, you go to Wikipedia to learn it and you don't
> have to worry that you've accidentally told Facebook you want to learn it."
>
> Facebook itself began offering HTTPS as an optional setting in January.
> Twitter did the same in March.
>
> There are down sides to using HTTPS connections, however. Some third party
> apps that you do want to allow access to your browsing data, the fabulous
> Apture for example, are unable to access and thus provide services on top of
> data on HTTPS pages.
>
> Many people will welcome the change none the less.
>
> ###
>
> --
> Steven Walling
> Community Organizer at Wikimedia Foundation
> wikimediafoundation.org