Privacy over security

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Works with any MacWorks with any Mac running macOS/OS X on Intel or Apple Silicon.

• Multiple actionsThis page belongs to a category, containing some changes with similar goal.
• macOS onlyThis script improves your privacy on macOS
• Impact: MediumSystem Functionality Loss Risk: Moderate
  This action improves privacy with minimal impact when you run the recommended script.
  This action improves privacy with some impact when you run the recommended script.
• Bash (Shell script)These changes use macOS system commands to update your settings.
• 14 scripts
• 5 categories
• Partially reversibleYou can not restore changes done by this script.

Overview

Missing Good Quality Documentation

This page does not yet meet PrivacyLearn's documentation standards. However, the script/action is stable and verified by community. Here are some options for you to understand its functionality:

Computer-generated docs ^(PREVIEW)

This documentation may be low quality but still useful.

Read computer-generated explanation

This documentation is automatically extracted from the code implementation.

Ready for privacy over security on macOS to safeguard personal information as part of secure data privacy enforcement? This option facilitates the process of the way. On a related note, process to revert the operational state is detailed below.

Respecting sensitive data privacy management fosters empowerment for every individual. Want to improve important data handling parameters? Just, choose your action from the list. Each instruction is there to guide you, so follow them carefully. Skipping even small steps can lead to unnecessary complications.

References

• Protecting Privacy and Data Confidentiality
• Complicated app settings are a threat to user privacy
• Assessing User Understanding, Perception and Behaviour with Privacy and Permission Settings

Technical Details

This action applies update parameters to minimize data privacy security risks alongside limited update analytics. This would help reduced system interruption to be able to optimize software and hardware performance.

To be able to reduce personal data privacy enforcement risks, this playbook modifies file system access to achieve minimized file tracking. This helps make tasks take less time, to realize reduced I/O overhead.

This adjustment changes system preferences to help optimize online data privacy protection and it aims to help to reach secured system settings. As a means of make better use of system power, it aims to help to gain enhanced resource management.

This tweak implements sudo controls to improve personal data management as a result of secure privileges.

To help enhance online privacy enforcement, this instruction set manages macOS system preferences to accomplish managing system settings. Through the use of reducing overhead, it can also help enhance performance.

Using applying this user parameters, this configuration configures your system to achieve secure preference management to maintain stricter important data privacy guardrail. While accelerate the system, this would help to obtain improved account response.

To accomplish limited data collection, this modification modifies tracking parameters to be able to increase system data privacy protection. This helps make things happen faster during reduced ad processing load.

The script here orchestrates protection mechanisms to reach enhanced threat protection and this action helps to be able to reinforce cyber data protection. This can help speed up how the system works, to gain efficient threat prevention.

This adjustment applies SQLite database to maintain cyber privacy safeguard and this configuration can also help to benefit from database sanitization. To realize optimizing database structure, it helps simplify system operations.

Explore similar guides

Gives more context about the goal of the changes

Scroll to guide list

Review code

Requires technical knowledge about Bash (Shell script)

Scroll to code

Edit this page to improve

Requires technical knowledge about YAML and Git

Edit this page

1. Security Trade-off

   This action prioritizes privacy over certain security features. It's not recommended and should only be used by advanced users after understanding its implications.

   Increased Privacy

   Enhanced privacy through reduced data collection and tracking

   Decreased Security

   Some security features will be disabled or limited

   This script can be reversed, this allows you to restore the default system security.

2. Use with Caution

   This script is only recommended if you understand its implications.

   Some non-critical or features may no longer function correctly after running this script.

   Some parts of this script can be reversed to restore changes if something goes wrong.

Apply Now

Choose one of two ways to apply:

Download script

Download and run the script directly

• No app needed
• Offline usage
• Free
• Open-source

High

High — Advanced Privacy

• For advanced privacy-conscious users
• May affect some features

Read more about High and other protection levels

Apply protection

Undo protection

Maximum

Maximum — Strongest Possible Privacy

• Military-grade privacy protection
• Major system impact
• Consider having Time Machine backup.

Read more about Maximum and other protection levels

Apply protection

Undo protection

Help

How to apply or restore "Privacy over security" using script

• ≈ 3 min to complete
• Tools: Web Browser
• Difficulty: Medium
• ≈ 6 instructions

1. 1

   Choose protection

   Choose one of the options with different impact levels:

   • High

     Some advanced scripts with high system impact.
   • Maximum

     Some not recommended scripts with very high system impact.

   Learn more about protection levels

2. 2

   Download

   Download the script file by clicking on the   Apply protection  button above.
   Use   Undo protection button above to restore changes.
3. 3

   Keep the file

   If warned by your browser, keep the file.
4. 4

   Open

   Open the downloaded file.
5. 5

   Exit

   Once it's done, press any key to exit the window.
6. 6

   Restart

   Restart your computer for all changes to take effect.

Apply with privacy.sexy

Guided, automated application with safety checks

• Recommended for most users
• Includes safety checks
• Shows the code
• Free
• Open-source
• Popular
• Offline/Online usage

Open privacy.sexy

Help

How to apply or restore "Privacy over security" using privacy.sexy

• ≈ 3 min to complete
• Tools: privacy.sexy
• Difficulty: Simple
• ≈ 4 instructions

privacy.sexy is free and open-source application that lets securely apply this action easily with more advanced options.

1. 1

   Open or download

   Open or download the desktop application
2. 2

   Choose script

   1. Search for the category name: Privacy over security
   2. Check the category by clicking on the checkbox of the category.

   Applying High to limit the impact.

3. 3

   Run

   Click on ▶️ Run button at the bottom of the page.

   This button only appears on desktop version (recommended). On browser, use 💾 Save button.

Explore This Guide

• 14 Privacy settings
• 3 Main categories
  • These settings are organized into 3 main categories for easy navigation.
  • Main categories may contain subcategories, further organizing related functionality.
• 5 Total categories

Choose what to protect based on your needs:This script already includes these options.
You can review, apply or reverse each option individually.
Click any option to learn more about what it does.

Some settings and commands may require technical knowledge to apply correctly.

• Disable File Quarantine (tracks downloaded files and warns)

• Disable Gatekeeper (enforces code-signing)

• Disable automatic updates

  This category contains scripts to disable automatic operating system updates. Disabling automatic updates gives users full control over when an...

• Disable library validation entitlement (library signature validation)

Similar Guides

Same Goal

Other guides in macOS See settings that are in the same category as this guide.
Using other actions in the same category may help you achieve your goal better.

Privacy cleanup

Configure programs

Configure OS

Security improvements

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About the Creators

These people have authored this documentation and written its scripts:

• 

  undergroundwires

  • Certified security professional
  • 7+ years experience securing banks
  • Open-source developer since 2005
  • EU advisor, Public Speaker, Moderator
• Open-Source Contributors

  • Hundreds across the globe
  • Testers, reviewers, developers
  • Companies, military agencies
  • Community since 2017

About Us

Reviewed By

This guide has undergone comprehensive auditing and peer review:

• Expert review by undergroundwires

  • Verified technical accuracy and editorial standards
  • Assessed system impact and user privacy risks
  • Audited and verified using automated security tests

• Public review by large community

  • Privacy enthusiasts and professionals peer-reviewed
  • Millions of end-users tested across different environments
  • Audited and verified using third-party security software

History

We continually monitor our guides, their impact and other potential privacy options. We update our guides when new information becomes available. On every update, we publicly store who made the change, what has been changed, why the change was made and when the change was made.

Review Change History Our Change Process