diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bfa4b00..a3dea53 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -178,12 +178,19 @@ and the minute, up to 1024 of them before the store is emptied, and
 ```python
 from owid import SignatureStatus, public_key_fetch
 
-# A creator on a domain that cannot exist, so the example shows the shape of
-# the call and the status a key that cannot be obtained produces.
+# A creator whose key this example never actually asks for. The transport
+# below stands in for the network and refuses, so the example shows the
+# shape of the call and the status a key that cannot be obtained produces
+# without touching a resolver or a proxy.
 remote_creator = Creator("creator.invalid", Crypto.new())
 remote = remote_creator.create_string("from another creator")
 
-fetched = public_key_fetch.signature_status(remote, "https")
+def unreachable(url, timeout):
+    raise OSError("this example makes no request")
+
+fetched = public_key_fetch.signature_status(
+    remote, "https", transport=unreachable
+)
 if fetched is SignatureStatus.KEY_UNAVAILABLE:
     # The key could not be obtained, so the signature was never examined.
     # Only SIGNATURE_INVALID means the identifier should be distrusted.
diff --git a/owid/endpoints.py b/owid/endpoints.py
index 8b1d3a9..8141137 100644
--- a/owid/endpoints.py
+++ b/owid/endpoints.py
@@ -113,6 +113,10 @@ def public_key_response_at(
             "received '{0}'".format(format)
         )
     moment = now if now is not None else datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+    if moment.tzinfo is None:
+        # Read as UTC, the only zone the wire format knows, so this agrees
+        # with the schedule rather than refusing to compare.
+        moment = moment.replace(tzinfo=timezone.utc)
     asked = moment
     if date is not None and date != "":
         minutes = _minutes(date)
diff --git a/owid/public_key_fetch.py b/owid/public_key_fetch.py
index aea6a8b..edeb52a 100644
--- a/owid/public_key_fetch.py
+++ b/owid/public_key_fetch.py
@@ -103,6 +103,15 @@ def public_key_url(owid: Owid, scheme: str) -> str:
         raise OwidError("the OWID is missing")
     if scheme is None or not scheme.strip():
         raise OwidError("the scheme is missing")
+    if scheme.strip().lower() not in _ACCEPTED_SCHEMES:
+        # Checked here as well as before the request, so a caller who
+        # only wants the URL cannot be handed one that names some other
+        # host through a scheme that is really a prefix.
+        raise OwidError(
+            "the scheme must be http or https, received {0}".format(
+                _quoted(scheme)
+            )
+        )
     domain = owid.domain
     _check_domain(domain)
     minutes = io.minutes_since_base(owid.date)
@@ -259,15 +268,35 @@ def _read(url: str, domain: str, transport: Optional[Transport]) -> str:
     return body.decode("utf-8", errors="replace")
 
 
+class _NoRedirects(urllib.request.HTTPRedirectHandler):
+    """Refuses every redirect, so the key is only ever read from the
+    creator domain the OWID names and over the scheme the caller chose.
+
+    urllib follows a redirect to any host and any of http, https or ftp,
+    so without this a creator whose domain answered 302 to some other
+    host, or to plain http, would have that other place's key trusted
+    as its own, and a network attacker could put a key there. Returning
+    None makes urlopen raise the 3xx as an HTTPError, which the transport
+    hands back as the response code and the caller reads as the key
+    being unavailable, which is what it is."""
+
+    def redirect_request(self, req, fp, code, msg, headers, newurl):
+        return None
+
+
+_opener = urllib.request.build_opener(_NoRedirects())
+
+
 def _urllib_transport(url: str, timeout: float) -> Tuple[int, bytes]:
     """The transport used unless the caller supplies one. A refusal carrying
     a response code is returned as that code, and only the failure to obtain
-    any response at all is raised."""
+    any response at all is raised. Redirects are not followed (see
+    _NoRedirects)."""
     request = urllib.request.Request(
         url, headers={"Accept": "text/plain"}, method="GET"
     )
     try:
-        with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=timeout) as response:
+        with _opener.open(request, timeout=timeout) as response:
             return response.status, response.read(MAXIMUM_RESPONSE_BYTES + 1)
     except urllib.error.HTTPError as refused:
         # A response arrived, so the code is the answer. The body of a
diff --git a/tests/key_end_point.py b/tests/key_end_point.py
index 235d225..016631c 100644
--- a/tests/key_end_point.py
+++ b/tests/key_end_point.py
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ class Answer(Enum):
     SCHEDULE = "schedule"
     #: Text shaped like a PEM that no key can be read out of.
     BROKEN_KEY = "broken-key"
+    #: A redirect to a host that is not the creator, which a client must
+    #: not follow.
+    REDIRECT = "redirect"
 
 
 class _Server(ThreadingHTTPServer):
@@ -73,6 +76,12 @@ def do_GET(self) -> None:  # noqa: N802 - the name is the protocol's.
         values = urllib.parse.parse_qs(query, keep_blank_values=True)
         date = values.get("date", [None])[0]
         end_point.record(date)
+        if end_point.answer is Answer.REDIRECT:
+            self.send_response(302)
+            self.send_header("Location", "http://elsewhere.invalid/key.pem")
+            self.send_header("Content-Length", "0")
+            self.end_headers()
+            return
         try:
             body = end_point.body(date)
         except ValueError:
@@ -138,6 +147,11 @@ def record(self, date: Optional[str]) -> None:
         with self._lock:
             self._dates.append(date)
 
+    @property
+    def answer(self) -> Answer:
+        """What this end point serves."""
+        return self._answer
+
     def body(self, date: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]:
         """The body to serve, or None where the end point has no key. Raises
         ValueError where the date is not a count of minutes."""
diff --git a/tests/test_public_key_fetch.py b/tests/test_public_key_fetch.py
index c4f6da5..724162e 100644
--- a/tests/test_public_key_fetch.py
+++ b/tests/test_public_key_fetch.py
@@ -219,6 +219,28 @@ def test_an_end_point_that_cannot_be_reached_is_key_unavailable(
             "a connection that is refused leaves the signature unjudged",
         )
 
+    def test_a_redirect_is_not_followed(self) -> None:
+        """A creator whose domain answers with a redirect does not get the
+        key at the other end trusted as its own. The answer is that the key
+        is unavailable, carrying the 302, and the request that would have
+        gone to the other host is never made. Without this a network
+        attacker who could bend a creator's DNS or a misconfigured creator
+        could substitute the key, and forgeries would verify."""
+        owid = key_fixtures.identifier()
+        end_point = self.end_point(Answer.REDIRECT)
+        with self.assertRaises(PublicKeyFetchError) as refused:
+            public_key_fetch._public_key_pem_at_url(
+                end_point.url_for(owid), owid.domain
+            )
+        self.assertIs(SignatureStatus.KEY_UNAVAILABLE, refused.exception.status)
+        self.assertEqual(302, refused.exception.status_code)
+        self.assertIs(
+            SignatureStatus.KEY_UNAVAILABLE,
+            public_key_fetch._signature_status_at_url(
+                owid, end_point.url_for(owid), ALONE
+            ),
+        )
+
     def test_a_key_that_cannot_be_read_is_invalid_key(self) -> None:
         """Text shaped like a PEM that holds no key is a fault in the key, and
         never a signature that does not match."""
diff --git a/tests/test_public_key_schedule.py b/tests/test_public_key_schedule.py
index b6df65a..6178bfb 100644
--- a/tests/test_public_key_schedule.py
+++ b/tests/test_public_key_schedule.py
@@ -119,6 +119,32 @@ def test_the_last_key_is_not_the_key_in_force(self) -> None:
             "the key in force now is the one that has started",
         )
 
+    def test_verified_under_the_published_starts_and_invalid_when_shifted(
+        self,
+    ) -> None:
+        """The two pass check that tells selecting by start from anything
+        else. Under the published schedule the genuine identifier verifies.
+        Move every start one week later, keeping every key, and the same
+        identifier must read as not matching, because the key now chosen
+        for its date is the one that was in force the week before. A
+        selection that ignored the starts would answer the same both
+        times."""
+        owid = key_fixtures.identifier()
+        published = key_fixtures.scheduled_keys()
+        as_published = PublicKeySchedule(
+            DatedPublicKey(key.starts_at, key.pem) for key in published
+        )
+        shifted = PublicKeySchedule(
+            DatedPublicKey(key.starts_at + timedelta(days=7), key.pem)
+            for key in published
+        )
+        self.assertIs(
+            SignatureStatus.SIGNATURE_VALID, as_published.signature_status(owid)
+        )
+        self.assertIs(
+            SignatureStatus.SIGNATURE_INVALID, shifted.signature_status(owid)
+        )
+
     def test_selection_ignores_the_moment_the_keys_were_generated(self) -> None:
         """The shape that broke the .NET port. Thirteen of the published keys
         were generated in one batch on 1 September 2026 and cover the weeks