what is the “Online Certificate Status Protocol”

[erikmccaskey64]

I use privoxy. In the user.action file i have a redirect rule and a few websites: 


{ +redirect{s at http://@https://@} }
.twitter.com
.facebook.com


Ok! it's working great, e.g.: if i visit any "*twitter.com" URL it gets redirected to HTTPS!


But: with wireshark i can see some "OCSP" packets [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Certificate_Status_Protocol ]


Question: What are these packets? Why aren't there in HTTPS?


Is my redirection method with privoxy is secure?


Thank you for any tips/opinions!