In the past "public" did not mean a single, all-encompassing global village of information that anyone on earth with a computer could get access to. People then

In the past "public" did not mean a single, all-encompassing global village of information that anyone on earth with a computer could get access to. People then operated within local shells of information, extending outward from the neighborhood block to the city to the country and maybe finally to the world. What time you walk your dog each day would be neighborhood level public info. Phone numbers would be city level. For greater reach than that you usually had to put the info out there yourself or be someone of media prominence. Nowadays the time you walk your dog is out on the internet because it was leaked from some Amazon S3 bucket collecting pings from your dog's smart collar. And what more it's been joined with your name, phone number, and other personal info to create an automated profile of you by interested groups. That's a whole different ball game, and not one that many people expect despite living their lives (in their minds) the same way as before.