Why would you want to disable it? They're not 'scare-quote' public, they're just public - analogous (kind of craply but workably) to 'distributing' your face, but not your passport/driving licence/etc.
The private key part is secret of course, never shared (that's where the analogy above breaks) but the public part is fine and desirable for everyone to have access to - that's how they verify that you signed something with your private key, how they encrypt a secret message to you.
The private key part is secret of course, never shared (that's where the analogy above breaks) but the public part is fine and desirable for everyone to have access to - that's how they verify that you signed something with your private key, how they encrypt a secret message to you.