[microtonal]

Why not? He said himself that this gave him a deeper understanding of the struggles of minority groups:

Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-30/tim-cook-s...

I think it is relevant to the discussion, because I believe that this is a much deeper motivation than profit maximization. Though, there are of course many other ways to reach the conclusion that privacy is important.

[pionar]

And on top of that, he probably understands the tactics the FBI used against civil rights leaders in the 60s and before (and even after).