I hear what you're saying but maybe we shouldn't be fostering an economy where giant hands scrape every last cent off the table, potentially damage the table and the prospects of others who'd just like to sit there a moment.

That's right.

The only way to deal with this is to accept that the only calculus these companies make is a calculus of tradeoffs.

Then make sure that the tradeoffs are correct.

It is the sad state we've come to in modern-day business. From business savvy to business savagery. Cardinal sin if you don't bash someone's head in, if it makes you a dollar richer.

There are plenty of paid products and even services out there that do not monetise your data.

Does Apple make money off your private data?

Good question. Anyone have an answer? I’ve just assumed (hoped?) they don’t rent/sell their customer info, but have absolutely no facts to back that up.

They do sell your attention via targeted ads in the app store, the news app, and several other places.

Do they collect and monetize data beyond those ads? Not that I've heard of.

A slightly better question:

does apple make money off your private data now or will it ever try to do so in the future?

You have to consider the incentives. Apple gains a lot by talking about and pushing privacy because their competition can't do anything about that. If Google or FB were to start taking privacy seriously then it would undermine their whole business model. That isn't the case for Apple.

Perhaps that isn't the case for apple now. How about in the next few years?