from Hacker News

Use Encryption Because You’re Boring

by hawkharris on 7/24/14, 12:11 PM with 3 comments

  • by dalke on 7/24/14, 12:30 PM

    The essay encourages us to use encrypted services in order to prevent traffic analysis. I have no issue with the overall goal. I have only a nit to pick, with the quote "It takes the teen’s Web history into account when his family applies for coverage."

    That specific scenario doesn't make economic sense. There's too much variability for the insurance company to make a good decision. Consider that a health teacher may assign students to research different common ailments, as part of a lesson to understand the available tools; a science teacher may bring up the story of H. pylori as a digestive disorder which was misunderstood for a very long time, and the student wants to learn more; the teenager may be helping a stressed out friend; the teenager might be interested in going into medicine and researches common diseases; and so on.