&gt; That&#x27;s a really bad analogy. Those papers actually exist. Without the key the unencrypted data is just a bunch of random nonsense. It does not exist in any real form.<p>Um, no, I don&#x27;t agree with that at all.  The point of encryption is that the files are perfectly, 100% recoverable, but only with the key.<p>Your version is like saying, without the combination of the safe, the papers inside don&#x27;t exist in any readable form.