However, I wonder why people still exchange Bitcoin in face-to-face meetings today. That would be far too dangerous for me given the value of Bitcoin. Personally, I wouldn't meet up with a stranger to exchange Bitcoin, as it can be assumed that you are carrying a lot of money with you. Even in public places, such an exchange is no longer safe these days.
Each to their own anyway, there are so many tx we do with fiat that can also be considered to be as 'risky' as this, like withdrawing money from a fiat atm or directly coming out of a fiat bank, you could be followed because people think you have withdrawn a lot of cash and have it on you, but this does not stop people from using these services.
There are precautions to take in f2f trades, and if you take them, i think it is fine to trade that way. Use a p2p exchange like bisq to connect you to traders who want f2f trade, meet in public, go with a friend and do not trade a large amount of money.
Sure, but then it would be best to use decentralized exchanges that have a fiat interface instead of making an deal with someone online to meet in person and exposing yourself to danger. If you want absolute privacy, then you can swap the bitcoins bought on the decentralized exchange back and forth a couple of time or run them through a mixer and you have the same effect without the risk of personal harm.