Once upon a time, pretty much everything about you was private, in a sense that government bodies did not keep record of your information. Until the 20th century, those records consisted in the minimum needed to prove who you were, get you to pay taxes, show who owns land, and enable you to vote.
With a more complicated and technological world, the gradual trend is for more and more of your information to be publicly, officially and privately held.
Here are some examples:
| Not Private | In Transition | Private |
| Credit History | What Your Read / Watch | What You Eat |
| Criminal Record | Health Records | What You Do At Home |
| International Travel | Your Relationships | Color of Your Undies |
| Birth / Death / Marriage | Pet Ownership | In Person Conversations |
| Car Ownership | Date of Birth | Postal Communication |
| Land Ownership | Domestic Travel | |
| Public Transport Usage | ||
| Phone / Email Coversations | ||
| Internet Usage |
There are four types of non-private information:
- publicly available
- service available (bank/doctor)
- commercially available
- available to government deptartments
