Encapsulation protects object integrity by controlling access to its data.
Encapsulation involves bundling data with the methods that operate on that data. In Java, this is typically achieved using private fields and public methods. For instance, in an e-commerce application, a `Product` class might have private fields like `price` and `stockCount`, accessible only through methods like `getPrice()` and `adjustStock()`. This ensures that the internal state remains consistent and secure.