Lately Wikipedia declared it was migrating to procure browsing across all its websites. We caught up with the official representative of the Wikimedia Foundation for a fast chat to learn more.

It should clarify that HTTPS isn’t new to Wikimedia websites. In 2011, we started working on technical necessities and the infrastructure, in addition to understanding the community and policy consequences of HTTPS, together with the best aim of making it accessible as the default option to any or all users. Due to the work, through HTTPS Everywhere, all Wikimedia users have really been able to get our websites with HTTPS for the previous four years, and when directed to our websites from the main search engines. Also, by default, all have been getting our websites via HTTPS since 2013.

We’re now executing HTTPS for all users across all Wikimedia websites because we believe everyone needs to have the ability to obtain advice, without censorship and without losing privacy. The HTTPS protocol makes it harder for authorities and other third parties to track traffic.

We waited until all our teams felt completely effective at executing this endeavor. Additionally, with raising concerns about government surveillance during the previous couple of years, the Wikimedia movement has pushed for more comprehensive protection by default through HTTPS.
We have recognized that we’re in a place to do this with as few technical issues as possible and securely. Our engineering and operations teams have been completely equipped to manage this transition, so at this period there’s no ‘added price’ to the Foundation.

But, the move to HTTPS is all about making sure access to knowledge that is free is uncensored and protected. You can reference our foil report that reveals the kinds and from whom, if you’d like to see what states have made requests to censor Wikipedia content. We do not have data available on other special tasks.