Well, there is privacy, and then there is privacy.

At local grocers here in New England (Star Market, Shaw's, etc.), it is commonplace to hear the check-out girl ask (sometimes loudly) "Social?" when issuing the repeat-customer discount to a customer. Sometimes, the customer just recounts his nine-digit identifying number (usu. in the US the 'social security number') within earshot of all.

If any fellow flyertalkers want an eye-opener, purchase one of these USD50 investigative reports on yourself on the internet. Huge amounts of personal, "private" data is already widely available. And this is true for people in Europe just as much as in the US. Yes, I know it may be contrary to law in Europe, but these internet servers are not usually located in Europe.

The age of privacy is over (although I am not entirely comfortable with that).