The risk of this happening seems low, but the impact on my life as an Apple ecosystem resident would be catastrophic. It's an easy decision for me - I won't buy or redeem an Apple gift card again.

Not an expert in the issues presented, but I see increasing numbers of single-point process failures, like what happened to Paris, being designed into our civilization.

Cards purchased at an Apple store, or apple.com, will be fine.

The general risk of getting your account disabled for infractions, though, persists regardless of this specific triggering mechanism.