It is true that I shouldn't send passwords unencrypted, but the passwords I send are not those I am concerned some government agency gets their hands on, nor are they useful for industrial espionage.

I am simply trying to avoid having the passwords ending up in some log file somewhere where a second-rate cracker can get access to them and spam my webpages. Honestly if you have the power to fix the Border gateway protocol, chances are that you are not interested in spamming my redmine installation.