-1

I have Macbook Pro 14.2 from 2017. I don't have Apple ID and I don't own Iphone or any other apple products.

I wanted to know are Spotlight search private? Or, in my case is it possible to mask my identity? If Apple still transmits data, and identifies me through the serial number, is it possible to prevent this?

Improve this question
New contributor
Porcupine is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering. Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
  • 1
    With three questions and no specific version of macOS, you’re going to get some general advice. Why would you expect data to go to apple if you don’t enable Siri or sign in with an Apple ID? apple.com/privacy covers most of what you’ll want to be familiar with to ask a detailed follow on question if you don’t get how to implement or audit things.
    – bmike ♦
    2 days ago

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

You can read detailed description about what is going on in Spotlight Search & Privacy. As this is under 'Legal' it should be as exact as it gets. Some excerpts:

Siri Analyzes How You Use Your Devices and Apps to Provide Personalized Suggestions and Better Search Results Using Local, On-Device Processing, and Syncs Across Your Devices with End-to-End Encryption Using iCloud

Siri uses local, on-device processing to learn how you use your devices and apps in order to personalize your experience. Using information stored on your device, such as your Safari browsing history, emails, messages, notifications, and contacts, as well as information contributed by other installed apps, Siri can provide suggestions in Spotlight, Look Up, Safari, apps, and more.

To Make Suggestions and Search Results More Relevant, Some Information Is Sent to Apple and Not Associated with You

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Nice link. Apple seems to be conflating Siri and Spotlight, though.
    – benwiggy
    2 days ago
0

Spotlight does not transmit any user information to Apple. Spotlight is a search engine that indexes your disk storage. It can also provide search queries using internet search results.

Improve this answer
2
  • Are you sure about it? I heard that: Spotlight searches will be sent to apple servers to 'improve' search functionality
    – Porcupine
    2 days ago
  • @Porcupine See the link to Apple's page on Spotlight Privacy. Some information can optionally be sent to Apple for Siri Suggestions, but it's still not linked to you in any way.
    – benwiggy
    2 days ago

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .