"What you say in private and what you do in private IS private" is a very modern thought. Village life meant that everyone knew your business, worried when you missed your four o'clock fart, ran to your aid if you screamed and generally watched over your shoulder. The down side of this was there was bugger all escape from the watchful eye of the villiage busybodies and thus little crime or unsanctioned fornication.

A gallop through the web came up with some definitions,

"
The quality or condition of being secluded from the presence or view of others.
The state of being free from unsanctioned intrusion: a person's right to privacy.
The state of being concealed; secrecy."

"The right of an individual to be secure from unauthorized disclosure of information about oneself "

"private (adj.)
c.1380, from L. privatus "set apart, belonging to oneself" (not to the state), used in contrast to publicus, communis; originally pp. stem of privare "to separate, deprive," from privus "one's own, individual," from Old L. pri "before."

What does it all mean?

The concept of privacy is an artificial thing, where the breach of privacy is defined by the circumstances. A police check to see if you have outstandings is a breach of your privacy, as is a tax audit or a Grand Jury examination.

It seems to be a case of "say something often enough and it will become fact".

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