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I know that I can simply make my own private certificate authority that only I and my family trust. But is there some public provider like letsencrypt that is in a free-er part of the world than the US?

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[–] diecknet@discuss.tchncs.de 105 points 1 day ago (3 children)

There are some commercial Certificate Authorities that offer free certificates. But in contrast Let's Encrypt is a non-profit.

  • ZeroSSL (Austria)
  • Actalis (Italy)
[–] JustEnoughDucks@slrpnk.net 5 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Also the controlling party in Italy is practically neo-fascist and Austria is also sliding there again with their Nazi party like AfD in Germany and VB in Belgium getting a huge portion of votes.

I don't see how it is that much better than a US non- profit.

I think the core thing is that you have to know of a bunch of different CA options and switch when necessary or on a compromised CA.

[–] diaphragmwp@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

The thing is, the US is already fascist. Austria (current day) would be an improvement.

Also, you know the downfall of Autistici/Inventati - No - check my post history. One of the events that happened is that US owned PIR removed one of the domain names since they own .org. One less US entity, one less point of failure.

[–] philpo@feddit.org 5 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Both Italy and Austria are EU member states , fall under the GDPR AND NIS2 and while both government(even under the FPÖ) have their downsides neither has legislation that is even remotely close to what the US even have today (and had for decades) and unlike the US both countries still have a very well working judical system and the ECJ.

So. Yes. While not perfect, their situation is massively better than a US non for profit. Total different league. Not even in the same ballpark.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 2 points 10 hours ago

It is. Most EU countries build on a strong legal system of separation of powers etc. that makes it hard to dismantle democracy with the alacrity MAGA is currently doing it in the USA.

But nevertheless, we're all aware of the rise of fascism in Europe and are extremely worried.

[–] crypt0cler1c@infosec.pub 0 points 12 hours ago (1 children)
[–] philpo@feddit.org 0 points 9 hours ago

And you must not have read the relevant US laws.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

commercial

free certificates

How do they make money?

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 32 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Usually they make money with extended certificates where they not only offer a certificate for example.com but also certify that it belongs to Example Ltd.

Those extended certificates used to show the company name next to address bars, but I don't think browsers do that anymore.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

a certificate for example.com

also certify that it belongs to Example Ltd.

I thought that was the whole point of a certificate, to show that the website belongs to the company? Or nah?

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 29 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nah, the point is to encrypt the traffic and tell you what you are receiving really comes from example.com and not an evil third party.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Ah, right. That's the primary purpose, thank you for the reminder! 🙏

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's actually to prove that a web server belongs to (or is trusted by for delivering their content) a specific website.

qualified certificates go a step further, by proving that a web server belongs to a specific company or a real person. but that's costly, because verification is inherently more difficult.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Thanks for the additional details!

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

ZeroSSL is probably what OP is looking for

[–] 123@programming.dev 1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

I thought zerossl used let's encrypt behind the scenes (for their free certs at least).

Edit: they don't mention that on their website, perhaps they don't.

[–] pdl@social.tchncs.de 1 points 9 hours ago

@123 @possiblylinux127 ZeroSSL nutzt wohl die Sectigo-Infrastruktur. Also auch ein Amerikaner im Rücken, der den Stecker ziehen kann.