Let's Encrypt!

I’m an advocate of encryption by default, rather than by exception. A very common counter-argument to the mainstream availability of strong encryption is that if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t mind about protecting your privacy. This is a false problem based on a wrong mindset. Encryption is not about hiding. It’s about not disclosing. You should be protected by default, and you should only voluntarily give out information, and for your own benefit.

I have been following closely the progress of the Let’s Encrypt project. “Let’s Encrypt is a new Certificate Authority: It’s free, automated, and open.” They have entered public beta last Wednesday and have started giving out free SSL certificates using their open authentication protocol and client software. Today, I have acquired my first Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate to secure communications between you and my website. I have also permanently redirected all pages to its https counterpart.

This has cost me no money, only some time to familiarize myself with the letsencrypt command. If you have a website, I urge you to take advantage of this system and spread the knowledge!

Resources

• Let’s Encrypt main website
• Wikipedia article
• IRC channel #letsencrypt on freenode
• The Let’s Encrypt client documentation