[Silhouette]

This article ... point out ... that the increasing influence of tech companies in day-to-day life is going to mean they start coming under pressure in ways they have traditionally avoided.

It's also worth keeping in mind that this greater scrutiny of practices in the tech industry and how ethical and/or legal they are is probably no bad thing in general. In this particular case I expect most of us on HN would see the wider implications and side with Apple. However, the fact that Apple and other big tech firms are having to make these kinds of changes in the first place, to actively defend their customers' security and privacy and thus protect their own reputations as trusted suppliers, is itself a consequence of greater scrutiny in recent years and the tech industry no longer having carte blanche to make its own rules.