A security researcher says every Mac since 2022 runs background tools that map your contacts, family and routines, stored in readable files on the machine.
Your Mac may hold a detailed map of the people in your life. A security researcher who goes by the Bishop (Dario Pasquini) says every Mac since macOS 13, released in 2022, runs two background programs that build a "knowledge graph" about you. It records who you know, how they relate to you and to each other, where you go and when.
The graph is built on the device by cross-referencing what is already there. According to the research, it draws on:
Other tables sit beside the graph. They record who appears with whom in your photos, and a log of who you communicated with, when, through which app and in which direction. The log holds no message content, but it also pulls from your other devices. Location and movement are tracked too.
The files live in a folder called IntelligencePlatform, which holds fifty-one databases. They are stored as plain, unencrypted data. The only barrier is a Mac permission called Full Disk Access, which controls which apps may read protected areas of your drive. The main file, graph.db, uses 181 kinds of entities and 278 kinds of relationships. The researcher also says the graph is meant to be searched by AI models, though he adds "allegedly."
Documentation is thin. The only official description is a short manual page saying the tool analyzes content on the device to build a knowledge graph of the device and its user. Apple researchers published a paper in 2023 on the techniques behind it. According to the post, nothing explains which macOS versions run it or exactly what is collected and inferred. It also says nothing about a "kinship" guess, meaning the system working out family ties. The findings come from macOS 26.6.2. Another developer, Nic Lydon, found the same database earlier and wrote about it.
The data stays on the Mac, but it is concentrated in one place. The researcher calls this a privacy single point of failure. If someone gets into your Mac, or tricks an app into receiving Full Disk Access, one set of files could reveal your family, contacts and routines. The post includes a thought experiment on what an attacker could do with such a file.
The researcher has released a free, open-source dashboard called iKnow that lets users read their own graph. It is aimed at people comfortable with technical tools.
Your Mac may keep a readable map of your family and routines, so protect your login and limit which apps get Full Disk Access.
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