Disable Spotlight and Lookup Deamons

Dear Apple community,


I'm trying to disable the spotlight and lookup services on my computer following the recommendation and rules of the operating system, described in the manual page of the "launchctl" command.


However the provided command do not produce the expected results:

spotlighted_system ~ % sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist  


/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist: Operation not permitted while System Integrity Protection is engaged


For the specified bootout option of the launchctl command additional system privileges are required.

sudo launchctl bootout system  /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.index.plist


It would be great if the manual page can be updated accordingly to inform users how spotlight and lookup services can be disabled to keep and respect the users privacy further in the best possible way.

Indexes and metadata of files, operation system processes and user processes contain sensitive user information and should not be subject of uncontrolled or unsupervised sharing, postponed data or information processing by analytical services or intermediate agencies, especially artificial intelligence with underlying discrimination networks for information processing.


Agent societies always have a launcher, but they still need a manager, a controller, and however a shutdown rule or special – ethic based – recovery service.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9780470058411.ch11


Thanks in advance for your help and your effort.


Best regards,

KH Krempels





MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on Apr 19, 2020 4:50 AM

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4 replies

Apr 19, 2020 5:59 AM in response to krempels

krempels wrote:

Dear Apple community,

I'm trying to disable the spotlight and lookup services


It would be great if the manual page can be updated accordingly to inform users how spotlight and lookup services can be disabled


There are many ways the Apple Security protects your personal and private information.


Disabling such a fundamental tool on the MacOS makes little sense. Yes you can do it , disabling SIP temporarily (and officially it is not recommended.)

ref Mojave/Catalina: https://www.fireebok.com/resource/how-to-turn-off-and-turn-on-spotlight-on-macos-mojave.html



ref: macOS - Security - Apple https://www.apple.com/macos/security/


Change Security & Privacy General preferences on Mac ...




You can submit your Apple Feedback http://www.apple.com/feedback




Apr 28, 2020 4:35 AM in response to krempels

krempels wrote:

Thanks for the very helpful suggestion. There are more services collecting metadata in /var/folders/zz/.

Is there any toolkit, management tool, or additional documentation available to monitor the activity of these agents, deamons, or lookup services?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards,
Karl-Heinz Krempels



The Activity Monitor.app is one way of drilling down on processes—sampling and more insight.


Activity Monitor User Guide for Mac - Apple Support


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Disable Spotlight and Lookup Deamons

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