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Encryption primarily serves to ensure the protection and security of information by transforming it into an unreadable format that can only be reverted to its original format by those who possess the correct decryption key. The main objectives of encryption include:

- Data confidentiality, which protects sensitive information from unauthorized access by ensuring that only individuals with the decryption key can read the data.

- Data integrity, which ensures that the data has not been altered or tampered with during transmission. This is typically achieved through a combination of encryption and hashing techniques.

- Data authentication, which verifies the identity of the parties involved in communication to ensure that the data comes from a legitimate source and has not been modified.

Data compression, however, is not a function of encryption. Compression reduces the size of data representations to save space or speed up transmission, but it does not inherently provide confidentiality, integrity, or authentication. Therefore, it stands apart from the primary functions of encryption.