Well, IMHO, too many of the 'public' profiles were getting to look like porn than cars. Setting them automatically to private REDUCES the unsuspecting gearhead CHILD from being exposed to even more than what is already out there.
I'm an admirer of pretty women but more and more, 'class' is being EXcluded. Personally I've just defriended 3 profiles who had way more pics of T&A than their hotrods. I always check out those profiles who want to 'friend' me and if it looks like all they're doing is collecting T&A profiles, I 'deny' them.
The key word here,IMHO, is C-l-a-s-s. There IS none anymore.