It's open because steemit records all transactions and posts on the steem blockchain. Like the bitcoin blockchain and many others, everything on the steem blockchain is publicly visible to anyone. The steemit.com website just makes it easy to see the information. It's not private if it's on the blockchain. There are some blockchains designed to provide privacy instead of transparency, but steem is not one of them.
I totally understand the transparency of the blockchain. I just didnt expect it to be so tied in to identities like it is on these public profiles. Thank you very much for a great explanaition 👍