I think to be fair to Apple, their stance on this has two huge benefits even if you don't use Apple products.
First Apple has significantly raised the profile of privacy concerns. Their resistance to illegal demands to compromise customer privacy has been widely reported, and their advertising on this issue is a constant reminder to consumers.
Apple has also showed that it is not inevitable that big corporations must sell out customer privacy in order to succeed. Without Apple the narrative is that Google, facebook, etc have no choice, because this is just the way the modern world is and freemium is too powerful to resist. No it isn't, the stance Apple has taken and their success proves this.
Now Apple aren't immune to compromise, their folding to Chinese government demands for access to user data in China shows that they aren't invulnerable. If laws are passed that demand they surrender user data, they have no choice but to comply. However their persistent messaging on this is a helpful reminder to voters in the free world to care about this issue.
First Apple has significantly raised the profile of privacy concerns. Their resistance to illegal demands to compromise customer privacy has been widely reported, and their advertising on this issue is a constant reminder to consumers.
Apple has also showed that it is not inevitable that big corporations must sell out customer privacy in order to succeed. Without Apple the narrative is that Google, facebook, etc have no choice, because this is just the way the modern world is and freemium is too powerful to resist. No it isn't, the stance Apple has taken and their success proves this.
Now Apple aren't immune to compromise, their folding to Chinese government demands for access to user data in China shows that they aren't invulnerable. If laws are passed that demand they surrender user data, they have no choice but to comply. However their persistent messaging on this is a helpful reminder to voters in the free world to care about this issue.