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SCARY and SERIOUS Question: Does macOS Big Sur Report Data Back To Apple?
- Thread starter BeautifulWoman_1984
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Being heard means you exist. I'm going to put Safari in "hidden"mode, and get my special hat.
saying words without context, or meaning... is meaningless. but of course, you have a 'special hat'...
why wait? i ordered one already... on the 'dark hat web' 👍
🔹 this post will self-destruct in 24 hours 🔹
Thank you XRayDoc!
I keep reading that Google and Microsoft are much worse at protecting user privacy compared to Apple, but I just want to be sure as this is a really severe problem I'm trying to solve in my mind.
Along with all the COVID pandemic stress it's really putting a lot of strain on me!
Fisherking, thank you for your earlier input in this thread, but this is a really serious problem for me since I want to buy a new Mac Mini M1 ASAP.
Is there any "hard evidence" that Microsoft and Google are much worse at user privacy than Apple???
Why haven't you bought a M1 mini already? It has been close to 4 months since you started this thread.
No. Please stop inventing new non-existent problems whenever your previous have been debunked.
I just want to make sure that my "Security checklist" is complete before I buy it!
Big Sur with the stock apps is secure and helps protect your privacy online. There is no reason not to get the M1 due to those two concerns.
You are not the only one on this forum that is concerned about security and privacy with Macs and MacOS. Most of us regulars here are patently aware and do our best to stay up to date on the latest confirmed news of security and privacy as it relates to Apple. If there was a genuine concern in these two areas of yours, the forum would be filled with daily posts about it, not to mention real journalist sites would be reporting on the two topics. That hasn't been the case, outside of Apple confirming the veracity and security of apps installed from the App Store, which has already been addressed by Apple as a security measure.
There should be no more need to keep asking questions on this subject, as the concerns you have had have already been answered numerous times.
Get the M1 you want to start living your life without fear. What you are doing now is doing nothing but keeping you in a state of constant anxiety.
Edited to add: I am more security and privacy focused than you, use a M1 Macbook Air to securely use the internet, as well as handle classified documents, which I doubt you are doing and haven't had any problems.
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I’ve worked with multiple folk in security who are not as paranoid as you.
Legitimate Infosec isn’t something you dabble in - you go full bore into it.
For starters - quit with anything Apple. Get yourself a generic Android phone and replace the ROM with something like Lineage or Paranoid. Do not install any apps other than your most neccessa
Get rid of the Mac and go Linux : Tails, Qubes or Kali.
Get yourself a Raspberry Pi and place a PiHole in your network.
Get yourself a pro-grade router that allows you to segment the network for different devices and only allow your most trusted devices access to one network, streaming etc. to a second and IOT a third.
Use TOR for all your web activity.
All that will be a start.
If you’re really paranoid about security then do it properly. Quit with this “I really want to make X the most secure it can be” nonsense.
Most people are not - they accept that no matter how much they try to do, there’s always a small risk.
In a prior role I worked for a
credit card company with security up the Wazoo.
We were hacked twice by a Russian based team who managed to get through three layers of networks and breach our corporate systems.
A year later, they came back for seconds.
Despite all that, I accept that as a single person, this gal cannot secure it all. I have trust and I’m observant.
In my over 30 years of experience I’ve never had any issues at home that haven’t been caught just by being sensible.
Are you going to help the OP with all that? She can barely differentiate QAnon-style conspiracy from actual user privacy policy and you think she's going to be able to configure PiHole, a custom Linux and Android kernel, and TOR for web browsing? I guarantee you she wants to use Quicken and other typical consumer-grade commercial software. I'm looking for the "/s" at the end of your post and I don't see one.
It's time to make sure we're all on the same page.
At least a couple of participants here had their deductive reasoning skills completely destroyed by COVID-19 hysteria.
This is not unique to this thread, MacRumors, Apple-related forums or even the Internet. I've witnessed this in physical interactions with people. There are real people who are "damaged goods." There's nothing we here can do to fix what's between their ears. They need professional help.
At this point when one looks at a thread, one really needs to tune out the comments from certain nutjobs. And this isn't just ordinary commenters. There's at least one moderator who clearly has lost most of his pre-pandemic acumen.
It has nothing to do with education. Most of these people who have lost their grasp on reality presumably have college degrees and may still be holding decent jobs.
I'll respect site policies and not point fingers here but SANE individuals should be reasonably capable of identifying who is b@t$h!t crazy and who might actually have a credible grasp on reality.
The increasing number of people on this site with moderate mental health issues has been a problem over the past few years. It EXPLODED with the pandemic.
Process what you read on this site carefully before deciding whether or not it is sufficiently meritorious for a response that features long-term pedagogical value.
With COVID-19 this is more important than ever.
I won't go as far as saying that some people here are enabling/encouraging mental illness but some days it sure feels like it is really, Really, REALLY damned close to that.
Like much of the Internet, this site is WAY more dysfunctional than it was a year ago.
Damaged goods...
At least a couple of participants here had their deductive reasoning skills completely destroyed by COVID-19 hysteria.
This is not unique to this thread, MacRumors, Apple-related forums or even the Internet. I've witnessed this in physical interactions with people. There are real people who are "damaged goods." There's nothing we here can do to fix what's between their ears. They need professional help.
At this point when one looks at a thread, one really needs to tune out the comments from certain nutjobs. And this isn't just ordinary commenters. There's at least one moderator who clearly has lost most of his pre-pandemic acumen.
It has nothing to do with education. Most of these people who have lost their grasp on reality presumably have college degrees and may still be holding decent jobs.
I'll respect site policies and not point fingers here but SANE individuals should be reasonably capable of identifying who is b@t$h!t crazy and who might actually have a credible grasp on reality.
The increasing number of people on this site with moderate mental health issues has been a problem over the past few years. It EXPLODED with the pandemic.
Process what you read on this site carefully before deciding whether or not it is sufficiently meritorious for a response that features long-term pedagogical value.
With COVID-19 this is more important than ever.
I won't go as far as saying that some people here are enabling/encouraging mental illness but some days it sure feels like it is really, Really, REALLY damned close to that.
Like much of the Internet, this site is WAY more dysfunctional than it was a year ago.
Damaged goods...
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It's the world. The world is irreversibly damaged by the social ramifications of 2020. There was already a marked decline in social uniformity and function durning the 2010s decade and then at extreme speed during the last year and it's unlikely that it will get back to where it was before 12 months ago, let alone 15 years ago.
The most tragic thing is that there is an even greater divide than ever.
Some people adapted and are even thriving through COVID-19.
Others have been completely wrecked. Even if they are physically healthy.
You can see it in the way they move, the way they talk, the way they carry about their daily lives. I see this everywhere now. Ordering a drink at the local coffee shop, standing in line at the supermarket, parking my car in a nearly empty city lot, walking around my town's farmers market.
My guess is that a certain percentage of people are now permanently "damaged goods." Beyond salvage even after they get their vaccine shot(s). Crushed. Destroyed.
From my perspective there are two key points that have NOTHING to do with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The first is that denial doesn't make problems go away. Burying your head in the sand doesn't solve anything.
The second is that some people can't see the forest for the trees. This is more insidious because there are a lot of educated people who are able to handle smaller problems in individual fragments very adeptly but can't see the overall picture. Some of these people look at all of the individual elements and despite having significant mental capacity often end up making the wrong big decision because they can't connect what they consider discrete items together. Yet under close supervision they are able to do their daily jobs by biting off little chunks.
Some people adapted and are even thriving through COVID-19.
Others have been completely wrecked. Even if they are physically healthy.
You can see it in the way they move, the way they talk, the way they carry about their daily lives. I see this everywhere now. Ordering a drink at the local coffee shop, standing in line at the supermarket, parking my car in a nearly empty city lot, walking around my town's farmers market.
My guess is that a certain percentage of people are now permanently "damaged goods." Beyond salvage even after they get their vaccine shot(s). Crushed. Destroyed.
From my perspective there are two key points that have NOTHING to do with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The first is that denial doesn't make problems go away. Burying your head in the sand doesn't solve anything.
The second is that some people can't see the forest for the trees. This is more insidious because there are a lot of educated people who are able to handle smaller problems in individual fragments very adeptly but can't see the overall picture. Some of these people look at all of the individual elements and despite having significant mental capacity often end up making the wrong big decision because they can't connect what they consider discrete items together. Yet under close supervision they are able to do their daily jobs by biting off little chunks.
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No I’m not and no there’s no sarcasm.
And that’s the whole point of my post.
She’s either desperately concerned about security enough to do all that or she’s wasting everyone’s time with pointless posts.
The point of diminishing returns was reached already in page 1 of the thread. I have requested moderator intervention to close this discussion but to no avail. Without it this discussion will clearly go on forever as there is no answer good enough, no closure to the potential "threats" available. No idea why this is continuing but it will until it is made impossible for it to be. Like it or not the mods need to close this thread. It's tired.
I remember seeing this thread when it was first posted and thinking how stupid it was then. Crazy that 3 months later it's still kicking around and hasn't been locked.
People just need to accept that you cannot use an internet connected device without giving up some degree of privacy and security. Just like you can't go out in the real world and expect total privacy and security.
As others have said. If you find yourself in a similar position as the OP, the issue is more likely one of a mental health concern than a tech related problem.
Adding my vote that this thread should be locked. 🔒
People just need to accept that you cannot use an internet connected device without giving up some degree of privacy and security. Just like you can't go out in the real world and expect total privacy and security.
As others have said. If you find yourself in a similar position as the OP, the issue is more likely one of a mental health concern than a tech related problem.
Adding my vote that this thread should be locked. 🔒
How is your security checklist coming along? Let us know, we've a lot to learn from you.
This has to be a troll thread right? The random bolding of statements, the weird sad face emoji, and the repeating of the same things over and over again? Give me a break.
Do they? Yes. How much? A lot. What info? They don't tell us. If you're paranoid, look up the DoD hardening guide for Mac OS system. Though I doubt a typical user would be able to do, let alone understand what they are talking about in said guide. There's a whole profession around security, it's what I do. And I get paid WELL for it. To be honest with you, the average end user isn't going to be able to mitigate much, not on their own anyway.
I can sum it all up like this... OP asks question - OP gets dozens of answers from people who know 1000x more - OP keeps asking question.