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Surveillance
Self-Defense

HTTPS

If you've ever seen a web address spelled out as “http://www.example.com/”, you'll recognize the “http” bit of this term. HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) is the way a web browser on your machine talks to a remote web server. Unfortunately, standard http sends text insecurely across the Internet. HTTPS (the S stands for “secure”) uses encryption to better protect the data you send to websites, and the information they return to you, from prying eyes.