From:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2521459/what-are-the-default-access-modifiers-in-c
Short answer: minimum possible access
Long answer:
Non-nested types, enumeration and delegate accessibilities (may only have internal or public accessibility)
| Default | Permitted declared accessibilities ------------------------------------------------------------------ namespace | public | none (always implicitly public) enum | public | none (always implicitly public) interface | internal | public, internal class | internal | public, internal struct | internal | public, internal delegate | internal | public, internal
Nested type and member accessiblities
| Default | Permitted declared accessibilities ------------------------------------------------------------------ namespace | public | none (always implicitly public) enum | public | none (always implicitly public) interface | public | none class | private | All¹ struct | private | public, internal, private² delegate | private | All¹ constructor | private | All¹ interface member | public | none (always implicitly public) method | private | All¹ field | private | All¹ user-defined operator| none | public (must be declared public)
¹ All === public, protected, internal, private, protected internal
² structs cannot inherit from structs or classes (although they can, interfaces), hence protected is not a valid modifier