The even bigger problem, which could be regulated if US legislatures had the will, is that Apple is comfortable if consumers believe an item of personal information is required to participate in some Apple service (like an Apple App Store) when truly it isn't. This is why we see so many back-and-forths in forums between users about what is actually required. Apple is comfortable with the confusion. If people are submiting more personal information to Apple than is actually needed, this is not a problem for Apple. Not in the US, anyway.
The $1K app seems like an early example of how "apps" marketed through Apple (App Store) were immediately being used by "developers" to gather personal information about Apple users, such as indicia of net worth. Having identified a segment of users willing to pay $1K for nothing, via an "app" download, seems like it would be instantly valuable to online advertisers.