Yes, personal privacy is a function of the system moreso than of the individual. If one doesn't share his contact list with Facebook, but all of his friends do,

Yes, personal privacy is a function of the system moreso than of the individual. If one doesn't share his contact list with Facebook, but all of his friends do, then his contact list is de facto not private. This is a real occurrence. Financial information is not safe; hundreds of millions of credit card numbers and social security numbers have been stolen in recent years, through no fault to the individual, but to the companies and institutions that they entrusted their information to. Unless you accept isolation, you will be forced to interact with the world using PII, and since it's useless and futile to trust the world to protect your privacy, why should any individual bother? Your location will be tracked by license plate scanners, surveillance cameras, and cell phone towers. You will (soon) be identified by facial recognition. This is the reality we face. Privacy is something we must believe in and actively strive for as a society in order to be in any way feasible. I don't see that happening any time soon.