The Concept of Privacy in China

The concept of privacy varies greatly from country to country.

Check out what privacy can mean in some parts of China:

Beijing Acid Blog #49 : Designing for Chinese notions of privacy

It’s a beautiful Saturday morning in Beijing’s early Fall. I’m brushing my teeth and hear a knock on the door followed by a curt common in Mandarin. Assuming one of my roommates will answer the door, I do nothing. A few seconds later the door opens and a man’s voice yells something in Mandarin that sounds like “Anybody home?” I look into the hallway to see who it is. I don’t recognize him. He looks out of place, as if he doesn’t know anybody in our house. The man looks at me with a bit of surprise and curiosity, then casually leaves our house… He’s not a burglar and his actions are not culturally inappropriate.

A few months ago we were interviewing a migrant workers and asked her how she communicates with her children in her hometown. One way is by snail mail. Remote villages cluster around small towns that have markets and phones. The towns also have a post office where a bag of mail is emptied onto a table and local residents are expected to collect mail addressed to them. Apparently, it’s common practice for residents to open other people’s mail to satisfy their curiosity. Again, there’s nothing really culturally inappropriate with that. Perhaps it’s even necessary for people to have the ability to look through other

Wow.