Your Mac collects a lot of usage data to improve macOS and Apple’s own apps.
you’re free to use your firewall app to monitor all these connections and block unnecessary ones.
Yes,Apple Intelligence does encrypt data, but it still doesn’t perform all actions on-machine.
This is another form of data collection, which you could avoid by disabling Siri and dictation.
On the Siri controls page on your Mac, clickDelete Siri & Dictation Historyand then clickDeleteto remove stored data.
Then, turn offSiri.
Finally, go toSystem controls > Keyboardand turn offDictationto complete the process.
I’ve disabled everything on this page.
Even so, I was surprised to see location access enabled for the computer’s system apps.
Go through the entire list and disable location access for services that don’t need it.
Note that this information is encrypted and cannot be read by Apple.
iOS is restrictive enough that no service is as good as iCloud for syncing and backing up your data.
Note that using cloud storage services exposes you to data collection by default.
You just have to decide if you want Apple to collect your data or opt for another company.
This means that you’ve got the option to easily reduce your reliance on iCloud on a Mac.
