In plain English
A browser uses a site's digital certificate as proof of which site it is connecting to. If that proof does not pass the checks the browser requires, the certificate is treated as invalid. That means the browser does not accept it for confirming the site's identity in the secure connection.
In context
Here, "invalid certificate" communicates that the browser is not accepting the website's digital certificate as valid proof of the website's identity for the secure connection.
- Situation
- Understanding encryption, privacy, data-sharing, and secure-connection labels
- What it communicates
- warns that the site's proof is not accepted by the browser
Meaning limits
The term by itself does not say which required check failed or what should happen next.
Examples
“The browser could not confirm the website's identity because the secure connection presented an invalid certificate.”
“The browser warned that the site had an invalid certificate.”