It's very unusual to be someone who specializes in writing about encryption for digital activists. More unusual than you might know.
The rest of it: sure, this is all true. But that's my gripe: this story has little to do with any of that. Ultimately, the only role surveillance played in this story was something for a new couple to bond over. Sure, better that than The Sound And The Fury, which I swear to Christ a teenaged girlfriend made me read, but so what? What's special about OpenSSL here that wouldn't be special about Club Penguin or Overwatch or some other lower-status technological detail?
I enjoyed your initial quip immensely. This one a bit less (I liked _The Sound And The Fury_, although not nearly as much as _The Mansion_).
I think the OpenSSL line was only intended to emphasize that the communication wasn't easy - thereby making it more meaningful. I often wonder what internet messages would be like if sending them was has the same time/effort overhead as sending physical letters (having to address them properly, walking to a postoffice, etc.). Surveillance isn't really important here.
The rest of it: sure, this is all true. But that's my gripe: this story has little to do with any of that. Ultimately, the only role surveillance played in this story was something for a new couple to bond over. Sure, better that than The Sound And The Fury, which I swear to Christ a teenaged girlfriend made me read, but so what? What's special about OpenSSL here that wouldn't be special about Club Penguin or Overwatch or some other lower-status technological detail?