The macOS system must disable sending search data from Spotlight to Apple.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-269566	APPL-15-002024	SV-269566r1034793_rule		Medium

Description

Sending data to Apple to help improve search must be disabled. The information system must be configured to provide only essential capabilities. Disabling the submission of search data will mitigate the risk of unwanted data being sent to Apple.

STIG	Date
Apple macOS 15 (Sequoia) Security Technical Implementation Guide	2025-05-05

Details

Check Text (C-73599r1034791_chk)

Verify the macOS system is configured to disable sending search data from Spotlight with the following command:

/usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript << EOS $.NSUserDefaults.alloc.initWithSuiteName('com.apple.assistant.support')\
.objectForKey('Search Queries Data Sharing Status').js
EOS

If the result is not "2", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-73500r1034792_fix)

Configure the macOS system to disable sending search data from Spotlight by installing the "com.apple.assistant.support" configuration profile.