&gt;hey I still retain control of this and it hasn&#x27;t been compromised.<p>For the most part certificates have never provided this guarantee. What they do guarantee is that A) the entity you&#x27;re communicating with is in control of the private key and signed certificate that you expect B) your communication with that entity is secure from a man in the middle attack. And mostly B if you&#x27;re visiting the site for the first time.