>It shows Apple actively ceding an opportunity for exchanging marketing data in favour of user privacy.

This is not a new thing.

For example, when the iPad launched and digital versions of magazines began to be available, Apple allowed a subscriber to provide the magazine publishing house with their email address, but also required that they be allowed to refuse to provide it.

The new thing here is to give the user a way to shut off abusive spamming of an email address they have chosen to provide.