>But to me it seems he did provide a lot of the impetus for having HTTPS virtually everywhere
HTTPS connections are full of 3rd party surveillance systems that still have access to and monitor parts of the cleartext. WhatsApp is connected to the Facebook data vacuum (yes, just "metadata", but as the Snowden revelations you cite show, the metadata is the desirable surveillance records).
If anything, this is a step backwards because it uses the pretense of security while providing none and really just being a fight for exclusive data across multiple corporate surveillance systems.
HTTPS connections are full of 3rd party surveillance systems that still have access to and monitor parts of the cleartext. WhatsApp is connected to the Facebook data vacuum (yes, just "metadata", but as the Snowden revelations you cite show, the metadata is the desirable surveillance records).
If anything, this is a step backwards because it uses the pretense of security while providing none and really just being a fight for exclusive data across multiple corporate surveillance systems.