The U.S. Senate has started to implement an encrypted HTTPS channel to secure its domains, including the individual sites of the 100 senators, ZDNet reported.

The change will make little difference cosmetically, other than displaying a green lock that indicates the site is secure in the address bar of a user’s browser. But functionally, it guarantees interactions with the site are done through encrypted channels, ensuring user privacy.

Read: Privacy Vs. Security: Poll Finds Most People Would Sacrifice Privacy To Stop Terrorist Attacks

The expansion of encryption marks the latest in an ongoing effort by government agencies to offer up secure versions of their websites. Many government sites now are served over a secure connection.

ZDNet said the process has been underway for more than a year. The effort has been slow and tedious, in part because there are so many sites and pages on the Senate domain. With sites for individual senators, committee sites, and project and legacy sites that are more than a decade old, there is a significant amount of information that needs to be secured.

Also slowing the process is the fact that, unlike the executive branch, the legislative branch does not have access to federal government resources to secure its sites. The General Services Administration, which led the project to encrypt executive branch domains, supports the change but is not involved in the Senate’s efforts to switch to HTTPS.

The switch puts the Senate ahead of the House of Representatives in securing its sites as every member of the House supports HTTPS but only about half serve up the secured domains by default.

Read: FBI iPhone Hacking Tools: Agency Paid $900K To Unlock San Bernardino Shooter's Phone, Senator Reveals

Earlier this year, the government announced it would require new government websites to enforce HTTPS and would preload its domains and subdomains directly into web browsers, guaranteeing that browsers will always make a secure connection to a government website by default.

The adoption of encryption on government websites, which the office of the U.S. Chief Information Officer reported earlier this year outpaces adoption by the private sector, does present conflict given some lawmakers' positions on encryption when it comes to civilian services like communication apps.

Several senators, including Tom Cotton, R-Ark., have called for an end to strong encryption protocols by private companies like Apple and Google, and have urged them to provide the government and law enforcement agencies with backdoor access to encrypted communications to aid in criminal investigations.

At the time, Cotton claimed encryption in apps like iMessage and WhatsApp would make those platforms “the preferred messaging services of child pornographers, drug traffickers and terrorists alike — which neither these companies nor law enforcement want.”

Cotton’s government website is now encrypted, allowing users to connect and communicate with it through a secure channel.

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