[sequoia]

You seem to be mistaken about what the "ends" refer to in end to end encryption. If I whisper something in my friend's ear and she whispers it into your ear, that is not a secret message between you and me even if each "hop" was private.

E2E means no intermediaries see the plaintext, only the original sender and ultimate recipient see the plaintext. HN is not the recipient of your message, it's an intermediary.

[hunter2_]

With HTTPS alone, I can assure you that HN is, indeed, the recipient/end. If you post something like a PGP-encrypted message on HN, now you've got a situation where HN is no longer a recipient/end.

I think the better point to make is that we all collectively agree to refrain from using the term "end" (as in E2EE) in situations like the former, as it's misleading despite being accurate; please only use it for the latter.

[croes]

Doesn't it depend on the application?

Messenger like the telegram are something different than sites like HN.

I am aware that I send my messages to HN, they are not forwarded to you but you open the HN page to read my response. HN is more like a message board with message hierarchy. The communication is public, the transmission path is encrypted.

[croes]

I am aware that I send my messages to HN, they are not forwarded to you but you open the HN page to read my response. HN is more like a message board with message hierarchy. The communication is public, the transmission path is encrypted.

It's more like whispering in your friends ear and she/he writes in down and pins it to a public board. My communication was private, but he/she is a chatterbox and I'm well aware of that.

[croes]

BTW I didn't receive your reply but had to look it up on HN, so I maybe be your intended recipient but technically I'm not.