One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that enables a background process to access encrypted data. During operation, the system executes the background process. Next, the system obtains a set of unencrypted keys by decrypting a set of encrypted keys with a server-key. The system then makes the set of unencrypted keys available to the background process, thereby enabling the background process to encrypt and decrypt data. Finally, the system deletes the set of unencrypted keys.