&gt;<i>Besides, there is also a cultural element here: privacy is a lot more valued in anglo-saxon cultures than in Latino cultures. Brazilians, Italians and others are a lot less concerned about things such as personal space ...</i><p>Speaking specifically about Brazilians, privacy works differently but so does &quot;trust&quot;. Brazilians prefer to use intermediaries to establish trust much more so than North Americans:<p>- You cannot rent an apartment in Brazil without going through a broker (unless you know the owner personally). Brazilians will pay a middleman for some reason. In Canada and the USA, it&#x27;s the opposite -- almost nobody uses a broker; the renter and the owner deal with each other.<p>- Professional jobs like software development go through recruitment firms almost exclusively. Whereas a big company would hire directly in the USA, in Brazil they&#x27;ll use one of the Brazilian recruiting firms and pay a large fee. And professionals (such as programmers) will browse the recruiting firm&#x27;s site and won&#x27;t think to apply directly to the company.<p>- Brazilians are unlikely to invite a stranger they met (over the Internet, by phone, or even in person) into their home. Even if the person is a professional business contact. In Canada&#x2F;USA, people are much more open to inviting a business contact into their home. But if the Brazilian has an introduction to the person by a mutual friend, then the person is no longer a stranger; he is immediately welcome.<p>Both privacy and trust work differently in Brazil.