### Feature request

It is not possible to put encrypted content in place on remotes with just a
public GPG key. You always need the private key, even for encryption. I
guess this is because how the cipher HMAC is used for replacing file names
with their hashes. However, if that requirement (having secret file names)
was dropped, I assume a pubkey-only mode could be implemented?

My specific use case is backup archiving. I have my backups packed in
archive files and want to use git-annex to copy the archives to offsite
remotes (S3). In that case, I don't care much about hiding file names, but
would appreciate the increased security of not having the secret key on the
backup server. It would only be needed if I wanted to verify or restore
backups.