Discriminations

I was really surprised when I went to a workshop in Stanford and the teacher told us that it is illegal to ask in an interview personal information like religion, sexual orientation, or family status, as if you are married or if you have children, that in your resume you don’t have to touch on these topics, that you don’t have to respond to these questions in an interview.
In Italy, it is completely different. There is a law protecting people from discriminations, but no one cares about that. That means that when you go for an interview to some company they can ask to you about your personal life (i.e.: about your family status, married or not, and about your children) and when you apply for a job the application usually contains questions about your private life.