Encrypting the web

I'm not sure what I think about this.
I get VB's point that we should be allowed unfettered private communication.
But, dog's is right as well, this is a public forum and anyone who cares to, can read the tosh that I, and the rest of you post.

SSL or not? I don't think I mind

+1.

I don't have a problem people seeing what I post on this site - they're my opinions after all, and anything I wouldn't say to anyone in person, I wouldn't post on this site. My problem is more to do with which sites I visit.

I'm an inquisitive person - I spend a lot of time simply browsing the internet soaking up information - I'll spend some time on Youtube maybe, come on this site, read the Guardian, find a few stories I'm unfamiliar with and look them up on Wikipedia, which in turn leads to more browsing.

I'll spend time looking at the BNP, National Front and Combat 18 websites because I'm simply fascinated by the people behind the organisations. I'll go searching for the al Qaeda websites because I'm interested to see for myself what is on them and, in short, what the fuss is all about.

I'll look up information on riots, subversion, global political movements, freedom of speech, terrorist activity and so on - not because I intend to do anything 'bad', but because I just want to find out more about them - to understand them.

In the end, I just don't want to feel nervous about what I do when I'm online. I don't want to think that I can't go to certain sites without being labelled the threat that I'm not.

But just as I'm likely to refuse to have an ID card on the grounds that I don't have anything to hide, and therefore shouldn't be required to have one, I would take steps to ensure records of my internet activity are not easily available - whether I'm checking my e-mails on Hotmail or downloading the Anarchist's Cookbook.