diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/common/encryption/keytool/KeyTool.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/common/encryption/keytool/KeyTool.java
index b8930a5..bd15dbd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/common/encryption/keytool/KeyTool.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/common/encryption/keytool/KeyTool.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package org.gcube.common.encryption.keytool;
 
-import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.security.Key;
 import java.security.KeyStore;
 import java.security.KeyStoreException;
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import java.security.UnrecoverableKeyException;
 import java.security.cert.CertificateException;
 import java.security.cert.X509Certificate;
 import java.security.interfaces.RSAPublicKey;
+
 import javax.crypto.Cipher;
 
 
@@ -73,23 +74,6 @@ public class KeyTool {
         return result;
     } 
 
-    /* 
-     * Get public key from keystore.
-     * The public key is in the certificate. 
-     */
-    private static Key getPublicKey(String keyname, String keystore) 
-        throws IOException, KeyStoreException, NoSuchAlgorithmException, 
-        CertificateException {
-
-        KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance("JKS");
-        ks.load(new FileInputStream(keystore), KEYSTORE_PASS.toCharArray());
-        X509Certificate cert = (X509Certificate) ks.getCertificate(keyname);
-
-        if (cert != null) {
-            return cert.getPublicKey();
-        } 
-        return null;
-    } 
 
     /* 
      * Encrypt a message using the public key