In a similar way sometimes the best way to protect data is not to collect it of if you collect it not keep it around in its raw form.

As for secrets, you sometimes need to have them for very good reasons. If you can reach the same goals without a secret while having the same protection going without a secret is a good choice.

But let's assume if you want the cryptographic protections of confidentiality (through encryption), authenticity (through signatures) and integrity (also through signatures or hashes) chances are someone somewhere has to store a secret. If that someone isn't you it is someone else (or something else).

But if you want to protect data with encryption and you should be the only one who can decrypt it I don't really know how you would do it without any form of secret.