MacBook Pro Privacy and recovery partition questions

[Ambrosia7177]

I finally got my new 13" rMBP, and have to go through the awful process of set-up!

Since I haven't done this in 3 years, it is all fuzzy to me.

Can you all offer things I need to do up front to protect my privacy (and security)?

Thanks.

 

[tjwilliams25]

Turn on FileVault and the firewall. Those are the two biggies.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Turn on FileVault and the firewall. Those are the two biggies.

Yes, definitely.

Since I have forgotten how I secured my last laptop, what would things more privacy based that need to be set up the instance I turn on my new MBP?

I guess I would want to access the Internet using my hot spot, right?

And I would want probably want to install the VPN client software and configure that immediately, right?

But what other privacy things would I want to do that I may have in place but have forgotten about?

 

[Ambrosia7177]

On the MacBook pro I am typing on, when I set it up maybe 3-4 years ago, one of the first things I did was create a bootable thumbdrive with the Recovery Partition on it. (At elast I think that is what I did.)

In 2016, do I need to still do that?

My new 13" rMBP has a SSD and I will continue using CCC, but now with a SSD for backup as well.

As far as I can think, if I have an up-to-date clone of my SSD, including the Recovery Partition on the clone as well, then I'm not sure if a bootable thumbdrive with the Recovery Partition on it is of much use, right?

What do you recommend?

I do know that I don't want to have to download anything from Apple if I have issues. One, it makes me nervous installing an OS from the Internet, and two, it will kill my wireless data plan having to download a file that is over 6GB in size!

I want to make sure I refresh my memory on all of this and understand things before I turn on my new rMBP and start altering it!

Thanks.

 

[KALLT]

Which version of OS X are you running?

The application firewall is not really needed, unless you really want to approve each application.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Which version of OS X are you running?

The application firewall is not really needed, unless you really want to approve each application.

El Capitan

 

[KALLT]

Be sure to check the privacy pane in System Preferences first. You should check the Spotlight pane and disable ‘Spotlight Suggestions’ (in the list as well as the checkbox underneath) and ‘Bing Web Searches’. In Safari, do the same under ‘Search’ in Safari’s preferences. You might also want to disable search-engine suggestions and the preloading of search results there. Also make sure that you restrict cookie access and enable ‘do not track’.

There is not that much to configure beyond this. Consider apps like Cookies to manage cookies more effectively and Little Snitch to monitor and block outbound connections, use an ad blocker to block trackers.

This is also a good starting point: https://github.com/drduh/macOS-Security-and-Privacy-Guide/blob/master/README.md

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Be sure to check the privacy pane in System Preferences first. You should check the Spotlight pane and disable ‘Spotlight Suggestions’ (in the list as well as the checkbox underneath) and ‘Bing Web Searches’. In Safari, do the same under ‘Search’ in Safari’s preferences. You might also want to disable search-engine suggestions and the preloading of search results there. Also make sure that you restrict cookie access and enable ‘do not track’.

There is not that much to configure beyond this. Consider apps like Cookies to manage cookies more effectively and Little Snitch to monitor and block outbound connections, use an ad blocker to block trackers.

This is also a good starting point: https://github.com/drduh/macOS-Security-and-Privacy-Guide/blob/master/README.md

My main interest right now is making sure that when I turn on my brand new 13" rMBP, that I am not exposing myself, my laptop, or my data in a way that cannot be undone. (Think data breach.)

After that, I would think my next goal would be accessing the Internet using my hot spot, downloading and installing my VPN software, and then surfing using the VPN while I set everything else up?

 

[supermariofan25]

Only thing I can think of other then the things already suggested would be if you want your computer to send diagnostics to Apple or not. Settings -> Security and Privacy -> Privacy -> Diagnostics. Also Antivirus for the insanely paranoid.