3 ms·

That seems to be about Spotlight searches, not web searches using Safari. (And arguably seems like a worse behavior to me, as my Spotlight search terms are oft

That seems to be about Spotlight searches, not web searches using Safari. (And arguably seems like a worse behavior to me, as my Spotlight search terms are often for private info I'm trying to locate on my disk.)

miles 12y ago
Thanks, chockablock - I missed that. Same URL to block for both though, apparently: api.smoot.apple.com.
thought_alarm 12y ago
If you're concerned about your privacy, you should look at System Preferences > Spotlight > About Spotlight Suggestions and Privacy: About Spotlight Suggestions & Privacy When you use Spotlight, your search queries, the Spotlight Suggestions you select, and related usage data will be sent to Apple. Search results found on your Mac will not be sent. If you have Location Services on your Mac turned on, when you make a search query to Spotlight the location of your Mac at that time will be sent to Apple. Searches for common words and phrases will be forwarded from Apple to Microsoft's Bing search engine. These searches are not stored by Microsoft. Location, search queries, and usage information sent to Apple will be used by Apple only to make Spotlight Suggestions more relevant and to improve other Apple products and services. If you do not want your Spotlight search queries and Spotlight Suggestions usage data sent to Apple, you can turn off Spotlight Suggestions. Simply deselect the checkboxes for both Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches in the Search Results tab in the Spotlight preference pane found within System Preferences on your Mac. If you turn off Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches, Spotlight will search the contents of only your Mac. You can turn off Location Services for Spotlight Suggestions in the Privacy pane of System Preferences on your Mac by clicking on “Details” next to System Services and then deselecting “Spotlight Suggestions”. If you turn off Location Services on your Mac, your precise location will not be sent to Apple. To deliver relevant search suggestions, Apple may use the IP address of your Internet connection to approximate your location by matching it to a geographic region. Information collected by Apple will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at www.apple.com/privacy.
- miles 12y ago
  If you're concerned about your privacy, you should look at System Preferences > Spotlight > About Spotlight Suggestions and Privacy The problem is that even after disabling it there, Spotlight still attempts to phone home. Here's a screenshot with "Spotlight Suggestions" and "Bing Web Searches" disabled in System Preferences with a Little Snitch window showing an attempted connection while searching: http://imgur.com/w09aNpz http://imgur.com/w09aNpz

miles 12y ago

Thanks, chockablock - I missed that. Same URL to block for both though, apparently: api.smoot.apple.com.

thought_alarm 12y ago

If you're concerned about your privacy, you should look at System Preferences > Spotlight > About Spotlight Suggestions and Privacy: About Spotlight Suggestions & Privacy When you use Spotlight, your search queries, the Spotlight Suggestions you select, and related usage data will be sent to Apple. Search results found on your Mac will not be sent. If you have Location Services on your Mac turned on, when you make a search query to Spotlight the location of your Mac at that time will be sent to Apple. Searches for common words and phrases will be forwarded from Apple to Microsoft's Bing search engine. These searches are not stored by Microsoft. Location, search queries, and usage information sent to Apple will be used by Apple only to make Spotlight Suggestions more relevant and to improve other Apple products and services. If you do not want your Spotlight search queries and Spotlight Suggestions usage data sent to Apple, you can turn off Spotlight Suggestions. Simply deselect the checkboxes for both Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches in the Search Results tab in the Spotlight preference pane found within System Preferences on your Mac. If you turn off Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches, Spotlight will search the contents of only your Mac. You can turn off Location Services for Spotlight Suggestions in the Privacy pane of System Preferences on your Mac by clicking on “Details” next to System Services and then deselecting “Spotlight Suggestions”. If you turn off Location Services on your Mac, your precise location will not be sent to Apple. To deliver relevant search suggestions, Apple may use the IP address of your Internet connection to approximate your location by matching it to a geographic region. Information collected by Apple will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at www.apple.com/privacy.

miles 12y ago
If you're concerned about your privacy, you should look at System Preferences > Spotlight > About Spotlight Suggestions and Privacy The problem is that even after disabling it there, Spotlight still attempts to phone home. Here's a screenshot with "Spotlight Suggestions" and "Bing Web Searches" disabled in System Preferences with a Little Snitch window showing an attempted connection while searching: http://imgur.com/w09aNpz http://imgur.com/w09aNpz