The forum doesn't have to have privacy settings because you control how much information you want to post. You can post as little or as much information as you want.
I don't find people following this topic creepy because they're most likely curious as to what their friends look like. I'm an extremely visual person so I like to know what the people I'm talking to look like. Until I've seen a picture of them it's like they're not real to me. I'm not scared of what anyone would use any pictures of me for because it doesn't affect me until they try to stalk me. Except that none of my pictures reveal anything about my current location, only where I've been in the past. Everything I post on here is already on facebook. But I dare someone to find me here among 100,000+ other students and then what? Follow me to my dorm with several hundred more people?
(Please don't actually follow me though I get that enough in real life)