Firefox/FAQ/Security/SSL Search
This is an FAQ for HTTPS Google Search by default, which landed in Firefox Beta on June 5, 2012.
Q: What is HTTPS? What is SSL?
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) are cryptographic protocols that provide communication security over the Internet. They prevent eavesdropping by encrypting communications between your browser and the web server with which you are communicating.
Q: Why enable the feature by default? Why is Mozilla doing this?
Enabling HTTPS by default for Google searches helps protect users from network infrastructure that may gather data, modify or censor search results. It also stops third-party sites from gathering search data when users click on items on a search results page. Encrypting our users’ searches is our next step into giving users better control over their data online. Enabling HTTPS for Google searches helps Firefox users maintain better control over who sees things they search for — queries that are often sensitive.
Q: Why are you only supporting Google and not Bing, Yahoo or the rest of the search engines out there?
A: Google is the only search engine that currently supports HTTPS search. When other search engines add that capability, we will enable HTTPS search for them as well.
Q: Why should I care if a website knows how I found them and the keyword I used to do so?
A: While search users may expect the search engine to know what they are searching for, they may not be aware that these search terms are often transmitted to third-party sites they visit after they click on items on the search results page. This goes against our privacy policy of "no surprises;" we encourage search engines to provide anonymous, aggregate search-term statistics to websites."
Q: Why did you make it so web developers can't see what searches landed users at their site?
A: Web developers can still see what searches landed users at their site via Google webmaster tools. The tools provide aggregate search keyword statistics. Site developers won't have info on individual users, but aggregate data is available for free from Google.
Q: Won't HTTPS slow down searches?
A: Google has shown that HTTPS does not need to be slow. The use of HTTPS properly actually removes the need for a redirect between search results and target web sites, so users may experience a faster search experience.
Q: What if I want to turn off this feature? How do I do that?
A. Users can always perform non-encrypted searches by navigating to http://www.google.com. Firefox also makes it easy to customize your default search provider in the drop down menu of the Firefox search box.