With Apple Pay and Smartwatch, a Privacy Challenge

No one has considered Apple a serious data company, until now.

For years, Apple has offered Internet services like e-mail and online calendars. But with the introduction of health-monitoring technology and a new service that will allow people to buy things wirelessly with some Apple devices, the company positioned itself as a caretaker of valuable personal information, like credit card numbers and heart rates. Apple faces two threats to its new services: one from hackers always looking for clever ways to steal financial information, and another from regulators increasingly interested in ensuring that information gleaned from health monitoring devices stays private.