.svg.png)
Mega Post: Protect Yourself Like Your Freedom Depends On It
Today was the day that I finally went through a comprehensive checklist to cut down my dependency on Apple web services to the fullest extent possible. I'm still a fan of their software and hardware, but despite their PR campaign to pose as a privacy first company, they cooperate with law enforcement a higher percentage of the time than Facebook does. Let that sink in. In a time when our right to due process in America is under question, I'm not letting any US big tech companies have any more access to my life than is absolutely needed.
All of you who are big fans of using Apple default apps with their default settings, take note.
The "GAFAM" (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft) are the 5 dominant Internet companies that own many popular services, often operating under a different name, e.g., WhatsApp and Instagram for Facebook. Collectively, about 40% of the average computer and smartphone traffic goes to just these five companies. All of them have been fined by governments around the world for illegal invasion of privacy and other infractions.
Apple makes headlines occasionally for refusing to cooperate with government demands for access to customer data. According to their own transparency reports, though, the company gives the government what it wants in 90% of cases.
“iCloud content, as it exists in the customer’s account” can be handed over to law enforcement in response to a search warrant, Apple’s law enforcement guidelines read. That includes everything from detailed logs of the time, date and recipient of emails sent in the previous 25 days, to “stored photos, documents, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, Safari browsing history, maps search history, messages and iOS device backups.” The device backup on its own may include “photos and videos in the camera roll, device settings, app data, iMessage, business chat, SMS, and MMS [multimedia messaging service] messages and voicemail”, according to Apple.
I only recently arrived at the conclusion that I no longer wanted
to store things like my calendars, contacts, and reminders with Apple.
For one thing, it's always a bad idea to have too much data tied into a
single account. People lose access to the iCloud and Google accounts all
the time. Spend some time on Reddit or do a quick Internet search for
examples. Many people don't fully understand that you do not have to
store your contacts, calendars, and reminders in iCloud to be able to
use those apps on your Mac and Phone. I've blocked all three services at
the DNS level and am happily accessing my data from third-party
providers that aren't in GAFAM.
Reducing Your Apple Connections
You can take the following steps to cut down on the traffic between your computer and Apple.
-
Go through your security and privacy settings with a fine tooth comb and remove access from everything you are not using regularly.
- Location services
- Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Photos, etc
- Analytics & Improvements: (turn them all off
- Screen recording camera and microphone access
- Full disk access
-
Go through everything with iCloud access
- I had over with 100 apps with access to iCloud Drive. Not anymore.
- Consider an alternative to iCloud photos
- Turn off Passwords/Keychain syncing if you use 1Password or another password manager
-
Turn off automatic services
- You don't need your computer to ask Apple every day if updates are available. Set that to manual.
- You don't need the app store to install all those iPhone apps on your Mac. Turn off automatic updates.
- Go through the apps that are listed beneath your login items and turn off access to anything you don't use regularly or that you don't recognize. Use Lingon or StartupManager to do an even more thorough job.
Since January 20, 2025, I've taken the following steps to
leave GOFAM:
- Changed email providers from Gmail to a company located outside the US. I use my own domain for email and have unlimited email addresses. My primary address doesn't get handed out repeatedly to people I would rather not have it.
- Moved the majority of my cloud storage to European providers and removed everything from Google Drive and Google Photos
- Stoped using Google search entirely in favor of Kagi
- Canceled Amazon Prime and stopped backing up photos to Amazon servers
- Uninstalled all Microsoft products and removed all files from OneDrive
- Canceled all Meta accounts and blocked Facebook at the DNS level
Other Privacy Related Practices
- I use NextDNS which allows granular control over Internet traffic. With the right settings, you can stop ads and trackers from passing through your router, speeding up your connection and increasing your privacy. It also provides encrypted DNS to block third parties from having a record of your Internet habits.
- I rotate between five browsers to cut down on fingerprinting. On browsers that support it, I use uBlock Origin, still the Mack Daddy of ad and tracker blockers.
- I use a VPN almost all the time, especially away from home
- I use a third-party firewall to block certain outgoing traffic, since the Mac firewall is only for inbound traffic. You should still turn it on, though.