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Additionally gatekeeper OCSP checks on app launches serve as telemetry in practice, and this has no preference or setting to disable it. This is just a check t

Additionally gatekeeper OCSP checks on app launches serve as telemetry in practice, and this has no preference or setting to disable it. This is just a check that the developer's certificate hasn't been revoked or expired. I wouldn't call it telemetry. Apple has said they're working on allowing users to opt-out of Gatekeeper checks if that's what people want. Details—https://eclecticlight.co/2020/11/16/checks-on-executable-code-in-catalina-and-big-sur-a-first-draft/ https://eclecticlight.co/2020/11/16/checks-on-executable-cod...

sneak 6y ago
> This is just a check that the developer's certificate hasn't been revoked or expired. I wouldn't call it telemetry. It's an unencrypted network transmission of a unique identifier, at the time of an app launch, that maps to a single app for 99% of cases (due to the fact that almost all developers publish only a single app). That's objectively telemetry no matter what you call it, irrespective of the intent of the designers. Approximately 0% of all users of macOS will change this setting, so Apple adding a preference toggle (that defaults to "send my local app launches to Apple via the network") is irrelevant from a privacy perspective.
- jolux 6y ago
  >That's objectively telemetry no matter what you call it, irrespective of the intent of the designers. There's no objective definition of "telemetry" that I know of, though, and this is a purely functional feature implemented straightforwardly. They are moving towards encrypting the requests, too. Whether or not you can toggle something is absolutely relevant from a privacy perspective. Gatekeeper is something that should be on by default anyways, and I personally am more concerned about my endpoint security than Apple getting pinged with a signature when I open an app.
- alwillis 6y ago
  It's an unencrypted network transmission of a unique identifier, at the time of an app launch, that maps to a single app for 99% of cases (due to the fact that almost all developers publish only a single app). As the article states [1], Apple is changing to an encrypted connection, the IP addresses are no longer logged and the checks never included the Apple ID of the user or the identity of the user's device. Definitely not telemetry. [1] For those concerned with protecting their privacy, Apple makes it clear that “these security checks have never included the user’s Apple ID or the identity of their device”, and that it has stopped logging IP addresses.
  - sneak 6y ago
    The commitment to encrypt is "within the next year". That means it's been telemetry for the last two years, and will likely continue to be so until the next major macOS release, approximately a year from now. The fact that Apple isn't logging the IPs any longer is irrelevant. The data is unencrypted, and your ISP and their ISP and everyone in between can log the data. The fact that it doesn't include the Apple ID or device identity is similarly irrelevant. The IP address also communicates unique identifiers to other services (including at Apple), so the IP address is sufficient unique identifier in this instance. Additionally, even if one doesn't have any access to those other records mapping the IP address to the user (held by Apple, the carrier, and many others), simply monitoring the specific set of apps that are opened (again, because the data is unencrypted) is sufficient in many cases to fingerprint and uniquely identify the device.

sneak 6y ago

> This is just a check that the developer's certificate hasn't been revoked or expired. I wouldn't call it telemetry. It's an unencrypted network transmission of a unique identifier, at the time of an app launch, that maps to a single app for 99% of cases (due to the fact that almost all developers publish only a single app). That's objectively telemetry no matter what you call it, irrespective of the intent of the designers. Approximately 0% of all users of macOS will change this setting, so Apple adding a preference toggle (that defaults to "send my local app launches to Apple via the network") is irrelevant from a privacy perspective.

jolux 6y ago
>That's objectively telemetry no matter what you call it, irrespective of the intent of the designers. There's no objective definition of "telemetry" that I know of, though, and this is a purely functional feature implemented straightforwardly. They are moving towards encrypting the requests, too. Whether or not you can toggle something is absolutely relevant from a privacy perspective. Gatekeeper is something that should be on by default anyways, and I personally am more concerned about my endpoint security than Apple getting pinged with a signature when I open an app.
alwillis 6y ago
It's an unencrypted network transmission of a unique identifier, at the time of an app launch, that maps to a single app for 99% of cases (due to the fact that almost all developers publish only a single app). As the article states [1], Apple is changing to an encrypted connection, the IP addresses are no longer logged and the checks never included the Apple ID of the user or the identity of the user's device. Definitely not telemetry. [1] For those concerned with protecting their privacy, Apple makes it clear that “these security checks have never included the user’s Apple ID or the identity of their device”, and that it has stopped logging IP addresses.
- sneak 6y ago
  The commitment to encrypt is "within the next year". That means it's been telemetry for the last two years, and will likely continue to be so until the next major macOS release, approximately a year from now. The fact that Apple isn't logging the IPs any longer is irrelevant. The data is unencrypted, and your ISP and their ISP and everyone in between can log the data. The fact that it doesn't include the Apple ID or device identity is similarly irrelevant. The IP address also communicates unique identifiers to other services (including at Apple), so the IP address is sufficient unique identifier in this instance. Additionally, even if one doesn't have any access to those other records mapping the IP address to the user (held by Apple, the carrier, and many others), simply monitoring the specific set of apps that are opened (again, because the data is unencrypted) is sufficient in many cases to fingerprint and uniquely identify the device.