Sweden's "folkbokföringsregister"
I think a lot (probably too much) about online privacy, and by extension also "real life" privacy. Who I share my personal information with, I believe, should be up to me. But not everyone agrees with that. And as it turns out, there are entire nations who function under the understanding that your basic personal details are always public. How come they don't care?
The "folkbokföringsregister"
In Sweden, everyone has to register, and their personal details are all publicly available. This includes their full name, their partner's and children's name, their address, birth date, phone number, license plate, and more. You may apply for exemption only if you are in need of protection for a good reason, such as being in danger or being a celebrity.
To me, this sounds like a massive problem. I would not want people to have that kind of information on me. If I want someone to know where I live, I will tell them. If I want them to contact me, I will give them my phone number. It is unsettling to me to think anyone would have all of it if they managed to gather enough information to uniquely identify me. Not only is it uncomfortable for me to know an individual could do this, but it is even more unsettling that corporate entities would be able to do this. Entered your phone number in an online form? Great, now that company can send you physical mail because they know where you live. They can even, to a degree, build up a profile to market to you specifically.
Privacy versus safety
On the other hand, there is a benefit to anyone being able to find anyone else's personal information. Found a wallet? Most likely you can find where they live and give it back. Victim of a hit and run? Well, if you caught their licence plate, you have their name and phone number, too. Privacy and safety is a tradeoff. And not just in real life; online it is very much the same. If you are using an encrypted messenger, then the messenger cannot read what you are talking about; even if you are planning a terrorist attack. Give up that privacy, and the platform might be safer for it. On the other hand, that opens up doors for the company behind the messenger and could allow a curious employee to look around in your DMs and steal that sexy picture you sent to your partner. In a nutshell, less privacy might mean more communal safety, but only for as long as those able to access your data have good intentions.
Companies and your data
Almost any company would pay for the personal data of a potential customer. And actually, they do. They just don't pay the individuals. At least, not in money. Most people are happy to trade some personal data for, say, a PDF on a topic they're interested in. The thing with marketing is, it is essentially psychological manipulation; people don't really think about it as "being manipulated" in this way, but every reminder of a company's existence is worth gold to that company. It's a numbers game; if only 5% of the people that sees the advertisement buys the $2 fidget spinner, and the advertisement goes out to a million people, that's a hundred thousand dollars. Maybe you didn't buy the fidget spinner. But you'll buy something else. Something you perhaps wouldn't have bought if it wasn't for all those advertisements you had the self-control for to ignore.
Violating personal boundaries
In a way, I feel that publicly publishing my personal information is a bit like sharing my teamug with a whole group of other people. If everyone is courteous, and cleans the mug after using it, then everything's fine. Some people might be a bit - impolite, and they might not wash it. Not ideal, but (probably) no harm done. And then there's the miniscule chance that someone intentionally poisons it it an attempt to harm me.
I wouldn't want to share a mug with just anyone. I might, with some people who are close to me and who I trust. But definitely not with strangers. I get the exact same feeling when someone else is able to take my personal information without my consent. If I didn't manually consent to them taking it, who knows what could happen?
The real sign that there is a general desire for this kind of privacy is the fact that many people (even within Sweden) have an issue with publicly displaying personal information in countries that do so, yet it seems very few people in countries with strong privacy laws are asking for the opposite.
Imagine toilets in Sweden didn't have doors and they were just okay with it. Is a door too much to ask for?