When we talk about privacy there are many things to keep in mind, from using safe browsers when we are online, to using respected and well-researched apps and services. But, even with everything, it's important that we give the most basic of: access to the applications we have installed on our Mac.
Privacy starts at the bottom, using the platform
Apps on our Mac can access various parts of the system, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, and the list goes on, but today we'll focus on three aspects: our photos, our camera and our microphone.
This is probably up to three they are very important in terms of security and privacy to speak. The steps to determine which applications access this information are as follows:
- In the Apple menu () we select it System Preferences.
- We are entering a category Security and privacy.
- We add a tab Privacy.
- We touch the padlock in the lower left corner of the window.
- We enter our password or use our Touch ID or Apple Watch to authenticate ourselves.
When we get here we will find in the bar on the left side the entry list, among them we will find a section Pictures, Camera y Microphone. To see which apps have access, easily we will click on each of them. Once we have selected, in the sidebar, the access you like, we will point to the right part of the screen.
We will see a list of all applications that have requested access to information appear. Next to each app appears a small tic that we can activate or activate. If we run the app tapp, it will have automatic access the information we selected in the left sidebar. For now, we only need to set the marker to revoke that access.
Which apps should have access
As we've noted many times, common sense is our best partner when we have to decide which applications have or can access certain services on our computer. However when in doubt the choice is clear: we exclude access. Why? Yes, because when we use an app and see that it works differently than we expected or lack certain functions, we simply follow the previous steps and give it permission again.
That being said, you would expect some apps for video and video calls, such as Phone, access both the camera and the microphone, photo-retrieval apps will be able to access Pictures and the list goes on. It should be noted that native-born applications and programs, for example On time, the same Pictures either Email they will not appear in this category, because access is required for their functionality and they are secure applications. Other apps, even though they are developed by Apple, like iMovie, if they appear in these parts and we may allow or revoke access to different information.
As always, the privacy and security of the platform is very much dependent on our use, in this case the applications we install and what permissions we give them. And as we talk about security, let's always remember to install our apps from trusted developers and find them on recognized platforms such as the App Store.
