I borrowed one from my sister when my mother was ill and in hospital. And gave it back when she was better. Unfortunately she was ill a lot. So, my sister gave me my first mobile phone (pre-GSM thingie, model "brick"

for my BD several years ago. ).
By now I am very attached to it and have exchanged the brick for a cute tiny Nokia. My latest color cover is... Black.

Friends can even e-mail to it. I also use it to pay on several Dutch online stores. I do use SMS (text messages) from time to time, but I don't use i-mode (this model doesn't have it anyway) and hardly use WAP. It contains some simple, but cool games for while I am travelling. I like its organizer functions that warn me when something needs to be done. And I can even use it as phone.
As for privacy: You can always switch it off.