No matter the CEO's personal stance on the privacy debate, Apple is still a business, so it's understandable (and quite predictable) that they'll act one way in public, and another in private.

I don't really believe we'll ever see any kind of social change from those old players. We need new players in the industry to inject new ideas and practices. Trusting a corporation like Apple to change is a dead-end. Their priority is their own subsistence, not change. As such, I wouldn't trust any CEO's (be it Tim Cook or anyone else) promises on that regard. To me, that's a bunch of vain PR talk.