Speaking specifically about Brazilians, privacy works differently but so does "trust". Brazilians prefer to use intermediaries to establish trust much more so than North Americans:

- 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's the opposite -- almost nobody uses a broker; the renter and the owner deal with each other.

- Professional jobs like software development go through recruitment firms almost exclusively. Whereas a big company would hire directly in the USA, in Brazil they'll use one of the Brazilian recruiting firms and pay a large fee. And professionals (such as programmers) will browse the recruiting firm's site and won't think to apply directly to the company.

- 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/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.

Both privacy and trust work differently in Brazil.