The Basics of Securing Your Mac
Make sure you take advantage of some of Apple’s best features
Advanced Data Protection
If you use the Apple ecosystem — Files, Messages, Photos — this feature, while not free, is highly recommended. Subscribers to Apple+ get access to additional features, Advanced Data Protection being one of the most valuable.
In Settings, click on Account > iCloud+ > Advanced Data Protection and click Turn On. Once enabled, you get end-to-end encryption for important areas of your digital life, including notes, backups — and maybe most significantly — your photos and files. Whether you’re a professional managing customer data, or need storage for personal financial or medical information or backups of family photos, this feature is a must. With it enabled, not even Apple can see the contents of your data.
Learn more about Advanced Data Protection in the Apple Platform Security guides.
Private Relay
Browsing the internet is incredibly invasive. Thousands of queries occur in the background throughout the day without your interaction. When visiting a single site, your computer actually talks to many different services — ad placements, behavioral tracking, and even Meta’s social graph of everyone using the internet.
Using Private Relay obfuscates your IP address from the sites you visit. To a website, they see the IP address of the Private Relay network, not you. This helps prevent invasive background services from knowing too much about you and keeps site owners from knowing that you’re visiting their address — especially important for situations involving sensitive medical queries, whistleblowers sending messages, or seeking legal assistance.
In Settings, click on Account > iCloud+ > Private Relay. Toggle the feature on. Once enabled, your IP address ONLY WHILE USING SAFARI will be obfuscated.
Learn more about Private Relay in the Apple Platform Security guides.
Lockdown Mode (Free Feature)
Some people we speak to are legitimate targets for harassment, including lawyers and journalists investigating major corporations, governments, or criminal organizations. If you suspect you may be targeted or have already experienced harassment, you may want to enable Lockdown Mode. Some commonly exploited features are blocked when enabled, which may change certain aspects of your phone’s user experience. However, for high-risk users, the tradeoff is necessary.
To enable Lockdown Mode, in Settings, click on Privacy & Security > Lockdown Mode and the click Turn On.
Learn more about Lockdown Mode in the Apple Platform Security guides.
Tor Browser
If you need the highest levels of privacy while using the internet, there is no substitute for the Tor Browser. Powered by the Tor Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit in the United States, the Tor Network enables users to evade censors and access the internet anonymously — think people in China who want to read the New York Times or Wikipedia, or someone in Russia who just wants to use Google.
The Tor Browser is free, well funded, and has a full-time staff of some of the best technologists in the world.
A Note on Phishing
As a general rule, you should NEVER click on links or accept files from unknown sources. Even if a message claims to be from someone you know, it’s always worth confirming before replying. For example, I recently received an email, and in the inbox, the name was the Treasurer of our organization. When opening the email, the actual sender’s email address was from an unknown Gmail account. I reported it as a phishing attempt, and only then was it placed in the spam folder.
Conclusion
Securing your Mac doesn’t require deep technical expertise — just a commitment to leveraging the tools already available to you. Whether you’re activating Advanced Data Protection for encrypted backups, using Private Relay to anonymize your web browsing, enabling Lockdown Mode for targeted security, or using Tor Browser for full anonymity, these steps significantly reduce your digital footprint and protect your privacy.
