Privacy Guard

First it looks at what is happening right now: whether someone is connected to your screen (Apple Screen Sharing, VNC) or a remote-control app such as AnyDesk or TeamViewer is open. It also checks whether your VPN sends all your traffic through someone else's network. And the shield in the menu bar changes colour to alert you, but only when something changes.

Then it goes through what is installed: management software (MDM), company antivirus (EDR), and monitoring, parental-control or remote-control tools. It also looks at configuration profiles and the permissions they grant without asking you, and at certificates that would let someone read your encrypted traffic. It searches for browser extensions that can read every site you visit, including ones loaded by hand. And finally, it checks for other administrator accounts or hidden accounts, and for exam apps that can watch you while they are open.

Each item comes with a plain explanation: what it can and cannot do, and whether it is normal, worth keeping in mind or worth checking. And the “Tu día a día” (your day to day) tab turns this into what matters to you: who could see your screen, the content of your windows, the sites you visit or your files. If something new appears it tells you, and you can save the report as a PDF with a SHA-256 fingerprint, which lets you show it has not been altered.

It works on a company Mac, your own, one bought used or one lent to you, because the app asks which it is and adapts what it tells you. And if your company declares what it has installed, the app compares that claim with what it finds.

With a double click: download the installer (.pkg) from the box above and follow the first note in that box. Without admin rights, paste the command from the download box into Terminal. Both ways replace the version you have and keep your settings.

When it finishes, Privacy Guard opens by itself. If you ever don't see it, open it from Applications or with Spotlight (the app is in Spanish).

A short guide asks which Mac this is (company, your own, bought used or lent) so it only shows you what applies. It explains what each shield colour and each mark in the window means, and asks for permission to send alerts: allow them. You can see it again from the shield's menu. A shield appears in the menu bar, and the app opens by itself every time you log in. Apart from that one installer confirmation, Privacy Guard never asks for an administrator password: it works without admin rights. If its shield doesn't fit in the menu bar, the app offers to show itself in the Dock too.

Privacy Guard only reads what macOS lets it read without admin rights. And that is enough for everything under “What it checks”, though not for everything a Mac can hold.

It recognises the most common programs, but not all of them, so an unknown or disguised one can go unnoticed. And watch out, because a program installed with administrator rights can hide from what this app checks.

It tells you what programs can do, but not what they are doing, because it doesn't look at your traffic or at what they send. And it only checks this Mac, while the online services you use (email, chat, cloud documents) can log what you do in them without installing anything here.

It isn't an antivirus either, so it doesn't delete anything or protect you from viruses. And if a company tells you what it has installed, take it as their claim, which is not the same as proof.

Privacy Guard makes no network calls, so everything it finds stays on your Mac: no server, no analytics, no account. And everything it checks is written in a single text file you can read in full. Even Check for updates works this way: it opens this page in your browser, which tells you whether there is a newer version, and the app itself checks nothing online.

Keep in mind that having it installed is visible too, because a company's management tools can list the apps on each Mac. And anyone with access to this Mac, or controlling it remotely, can see it's there, which the app itself reminds you of at the end of its report.

Privacy Guard is an independent, free project that I build and maintain from Valencia, Spain. I also made ValidWise, a compliance scanner for European websites (GDPR, accessibility, security headers), GeoAdsFinder and AIsWise. And if you want to know more about me and what I build, you'll find it on the “Why me” page.

If the app misses something you have installed, or explains it badly, write to me at iban@ibanrios.com. The program's name is enough, with no need to send me your report, and in fact that is how detection of extensions loaded by hand got into the app.