Public / Private key pairs are used for securely transmitting encrypted documents. The publication will generate a pair of linked keys, and publish one of them, the public key, while retaining the private key.
If you encrypt a document using the public key from the publication, your document can only be decrypted by the holder of the private key. So any whistleblower wanting to contribute can use that key to make sure no one other than the publication can read their submissions.
The same can be done in reverse. The publisher can use their private key to encrypt a document that only the public key can unlock. Though anyone can decrypt it because the key is public, this verifies the sender because it can only have been sent by the holder of the private key.
Usually they are published to a keyserver, actually printing the key is uncommon.
Public / Private key pairs are used for securely transmitting encrypted documents. The publication will generate a pair of linked keys, and publish one of them, the public key, while retaining the private key.
If you encrypt a document using the public key from the publication, your document can only be decrypted by the holder of the private key. So any whistleblower wanting to contribute can use that key to make sure no one other than the publication can read their submissions.
The same can be done in reverse. The publisher can use their private key to encrypt a document that only the public key can unlock. Though anyone can decrypt it because the key is public, this verifies the sender because it can only have been sent by the holder of the private key.
Usually they are published to a keyserver, actually printing the key is uncommon.