Your public toilets are not private. There should never be a gap around the door. The height should be above what any reasonable person would grow to, and the lower height of the door should hide the person's feet on the toilet unless you crouch down. It's weird and very off putting to use one
They say it's to prevent crime. Same as a lot of the awful things we come to expect. I'm willing to bet it doesn't do anything noticeable with respect to crime.
This is changing! More and more places in the western US are going to euro-style stalls, or fully gender neutral bathrooms that are entirely walled in. Much, much better. I can't speak for the other parts of the US.
I was fascinated by glass stalls in Greece. I've never seen those before (opaque glass, but still, you could make out shapes). Lots of glass in general, such as highway soundproof barriers, balconies, etc. Much more so than I'm used to seeing. We tend to use a lot more metal or sculpted concrete.
Right?! A country that’s so prudish and worried about nudity, and yet they observe each other on the toilet? I feel like the whole transgender-bathroom discussion would be mostly gone if they had normal toilets with privacy.