Or it was the whole refusal to help the gubmint crack that person's phone that gained user confidence. Which was awesome, but still, on top of hoarding (and scanning) user data, iOS has multiple open VPN leakage issues that haven't been patched for years now.
Discussion
This is marketing. If you dig into that story, Apple's refusal was a process refusal. If the FBI gave Apple the iCloud account and followed Apple's process of law enforcement, Apple would hand over the entire contents of the account on a silver platter. Apple has all of your data and will hand it over in a heartbeat.
They also hand your data to advertising partners of theirs with abandon. You cannot opt out of Apple advertising per their terms of service.