Pictures automatically being uploaded to icloud is the issue here. Apple will not and maybe cannot snoop in the iphone itself (only for the recent models) but it can, will and has been getting into icloud to give to third parties.

This is mandatory by law for every company operating in the US.

Had this privacy weakness not been in place, it would have been much more difficult to get the pictures. Probably would not have happened as it would have required getting close enough to the devices themselves.