How to Set up OS X to Protect Your Privacy

Setting up a new computer is tricky, but if you care about privacy, it gets even trickier. This is especially true with the Mac, which hides all sorts of things behind the scenes. Whether you’re setting up a new system or installing a new version of OS X, now is a good time to check your privacy settings.

We all need to protect our personal information . But when you work with sensitive files, pictures, and passwords , you want to prevent other people from easily accessing them. Plus, with a Mac, even simple things like your texting can appear on someone’s face if you’re not careful. This may seem like a serious privacy issue to some of us, but luckily, OS X has a ton of settings you can tweak to block your data, search results, and more.

OS X System Preferences Audit

By default, OS X is all about ease of use. This is great, except that your personal information is usually publicly available and can be found by anyone (or any application). Most of the default behavior in OS X is meant to make your life easier, but it also means that if someone sits down at your computer, they might accidentally bump into a ton of things that you might not want. Here are some general settings to change:

• Customize your privacy settings: OS X has a built-in privacy tool that’s worth tweaking .. Go to System Preferences> Security & Privacy and select the Privacy tab. This is where you can specify which apps have access to your location data, iCloud data, and which apps have deep system content (this is listed in the Accessibility section, but mostly includes apps like app launchers and text extenders). You can disable access to applications immediately here or for each application separately.
• Turn on FileVault: OS X comes with built-in FileVault encryption software . When you enable it, you need your login password or recovery key to see any data on your computer. Go to System Preferences> Security & Privacy and select the FileVault tab. Turn it on and it will encrypt your entire drive. This password protects anything that makes it difficult for prying eyes to access your data without a password. This also means that you always need a password, so don’t lose it!
• Don’t use Keychain Access: Keychain is Apple’s built-in password system. You should use it for login, but don’t use it for your browser data. With just your login password, someone can access all of your other passwords, network drives, encrypted files, application passwords, and more stored on your computer. Instead, use a password manager like LastPass or 1Password , which requires a master password (in addition to your login password).
• Manage iCloud Settings: iCloud – One of the main benefits of OS X is iOS integration. iCloud syncs all your photos, files, and everything else across your devices. If you’re using a shared computer, you can turn off iCloud completely. Just go to System Preferences> iCloud and click the Sign Out button. It will stop syncing everything (which is not that convenient), but at least your data won’t be as easily accessible. That said, if you still really want to use iCloud, at least make sure you have two-factor authentication turned on.
• Disable iMessage and Facetime: Continuity is a big argument for Apple. From your Mac, you can send and receive calls and text messages that sync with your iPhone. One potential problem occurs when someone is using your computer (or looking over your shoulder) and you receive a text message that you don’t want them to see. In addition to the message notification, they can also access all conversations in Messages. If you are concerned about this, turn off Messages. Open Messages, choose Message> Preferences, and sign out of your Apple ID. You can do the same with Facetime for phone calls.
• Disable Spotlight Search Online: For Spotlight to work, it needs to send your search data to Google, Apple, and Bing (whichever you are currently using). That’s okay, but every time you search for something using Spotlight, Apple collects that data as well. … While Apple claims it’s anonymous, it’s still a little creepy … To turn it off, go to System Preferences> Spotlight> Search Results and uncheck the boxes for Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Search. If you still want the power of Spotlight without the creepiness, we recommend Alfred .
• Hide files from Spotlight: Speaking of Spotlight, you’ll also want to customize where it can look for files. If someone is sitting at your computer, they can press Command + Space to search for any file on your computer (as well as search within files). It’s great when you’re looking for something, but it also makes it easy to peek at you. Luckily, you can customize how this works. Go to System Preferences> Spotlight. From here, you can uncheck any checkboxes for search results that shouldn’t appear in Spotlight. Spotlight will still index these files, but they will not appear in search results. You can also click the Privacy tab and add any folders that you don’t want Spotlight indexed. This way, they won’t show up in search results at all.

After all these settings are changed, OS X will be largely locked out. … You will lose some of the features that make OS X convenient, but at least you won’t just transfer personal data to anyone (or any application) who sits at your computer.

Protect your apps and your data

OS X doesn’t protect your data from apps you download, so you’ll have to do it yourself. Apple really tries to make sure you don’t install anything without thinking about it, and has tools to restrict the installation of unsigned applications, but once installed, OS X assumes that you know what you are doing. Taking care of your online privacy is a big step in getting you to do this, but there are a few other things you can do as well.

• Download browser extensions that protect privacy. Chances are, you spend a lot of time online, so it’s worth limiting your browsing habits. Install browser extensions such as AdBlock Plus , Disconnect, and other privacy-protecting extensions to keep your data safe.
• Use a VPN : Virtual private networks (VPNs) help protect your privacy . Setting up a VPN ensures that your browsing traffic is encrypted, which is especially important if you’re using a MacBook and working in cafes or other places with unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
• Allow only approved apps: The Internet is filled with billions of apps, and some of them may contain malware, spyware, or other malicious code. Poppies are no exception . Apple only allows you to install trusted apps that have been submitted, reviewed, and added to the Mac App Store, but if you turn that off, you need to be extra careful. To enable this feature, go to System Preferences> Security & Privacy and select the General tab. You will see the option “Allow downloading applications from”. Check the box next to Mac App Store. This means that only approved and signed applications can be installed. If you consider yourself a little smarter, you can also opt for the “Mac App Store and Certain Developers” option.

Of course, this is the least you can do. Some privacy-focused web browsers are useful as well, because incognito mode isn’t really the best for privacy. You can also get away from Google and to change the search engine by default to something like DuckDuckGo, that your view was a little more private. It’s also a good idea to install an anti-virus application . Although we are all told that Macs do not have virus problems, you are still at risk of cross-platform browser and web exploits (such as in Flash and Java) and you do not want to inadvertently distribute Windows malware through shared files or attachments. what is better to play it safe.

Block physical access to your computer

Locking the data on your computer is only half the battle. The most popular Apple computers are laptops, which means that it is extremely important to block physical access to your computer.

• Turn on the lock screen : Go to System Preferences> Security & Privacy and select the General tab. Check the boxes next to Require password and Disable automatic login to ensure that a password is required to access your computer.
• Hide user accounts : By default, when you go to the lock screen, you will see options for different user accounts on the system. In theory, someone could sit back and guess your password over and over if they wanted to. If you need another layer of security, you can hide it, so you will need to enter your username and password to login. Once you enable this, you will have to log in with both every time. In Terminal, enter: sudo dscl . create /Users/hiddenuser IsHidden 1
• Create a Guest User Account : When you need to give your computer to a friend, it’s best to create a Guest account so that he doesn’t accidentally dig into your stuff. Go to System Preferences> Users & Groups and click on the “Guest” option. Select the Allow guests to log on to this computer check box. If you’ve turned on FileVault, guests can only access Safari, which is probably all they really need.
• Protect Your Wi-Fi : Finally, you’ll also want to make sure your home Wi-Fi is secure so neighbors and passers-by can’t track your data. Keeping your Wi-Fi secure is easy, and once set up, you no longer need to think about it.

That being said, your computer must be secure, and most of your data must be kept confidential. Of course, there is no perfect security , but at least you make it harder for people to access your data. Or, in the case of OS X, you make it so that some random bystander or untrustworthy application doesn’t just accidentally overhear you.

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