How does end-to-end encryption protect online messages?

End-to-end encryption is like giving your letter a secret envelope that only you and the person you're sending it to can open.

Imagine you want to send a special message to your friend at school. Instead of just writing it on a paper and handing it to them, you put it in a special envelope that needs a unique key to open. Only you have the key to lock it, and only your friend has the key to unlock it. No one else, not the teacher, not the mail person, can read what's inside.

When you write your message, you use your secret key to turn it into a jumbled-up code that looks like nonsense to anyone who finds it. This is called encryption. Then, when your friend gets it, they use their secret key to decode it back into something readable, this is called decryption.

So even if someone sneaks a peek at the message on its way, they can't understand it because it's all jumbled up! It’s like sending a message in a special box that only you and your friend know how to open.