Apple guarantees that the Gatekeeper security system is not used to monitor users

During the macOS Big Sur online update wave a few days ago, a large number of simultaneous update requests from users made the Gatekeeper system, used to check if the computer is using a security application, overwhelmed. After the matter subsided, the discussion about Gatekeeper violating user privacy started to heat up, so Apple had to specifically explain how Gatekeeper works in the new version of the support document.

Apple points out that this system, introduced by Mountain Lion, will only be used to verify the security of the software to run on the device and will not be used to keep track of usage history. Specifically, when the user clicks to activate an app on the computer (regardless of whether the source is the original manufacturer or a third party), the device will send a request to the Apple server to determine if the software developer certificate is valid. In general, this process is very short and meaningless and the situation in which Big Sur was launched is actually a special case.

But such a large failure is bound to pique people’s curiosity about the cause. After analyzing the data sent from the Mac to the Apple server, someone came to the conclusion that the system would send the user software usage records to Apple’s headquarters in text form. This naturally means a hidden danger of loss of personal privacy, but this argument was quickly debunked by professionals. A researcher named Jacopo Jannone specifically wrote an article on the OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) used by Gatekeeper, in short, the average user shouldn’t worry too much.

However, in order to provide users with more peace of mind, Apple still said it will further encrypt the transmitted data in the future and allow users to close Gatekeeper on their own. Therefore, whether you want to continue using this feature in the future depends on whether you pay more attention to the complete privacy or security of the software.