From Security and Privacy's General window - SYSTEM EXTENSION permission won't go away

Hi yeskaydee,

Thanks for that info!

The kernel extension shown in your screenshot is likely an extension of the Seagate Tools app. Only you can decide whether you trust this extension from Seagate, but it will have extremely privileged access if you decide to install it.

If you're looking to password-protect (encrypt) your external drive without needing a kernel extension, you can do that by erasing it in Disk Utility. Please note that when you encrypt your drive in this way, Windows PCs won't be able to access your external drive unless you use special software (such as Paragon's APFS for Windows software).

1. Connect your external drive to your Mac.
2. Move any data you want to preserve off of your external drive.
3. Open Disk Utility, located in Applications -> Utilities.
4. In Disk Utility, click View -> Show All Devices.
5. Select the top level of the external drive and click Erase. Choose these options, then click Erase:
   1. Name: Whatever you want
   2. Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted, if available) or APFS (Encrypted)
   3. Scheme: GUID Partition Table/Map
6. When the erase is finished, quit Disk Utility. The next time you eject and connect your external drive, you will be prompted for the password to unlock it. Without the password, your data is inaccessible.

To uninstall Seagate Tools, follow these steps from the developer: https://www.seagate.com/ca/en/support/kb/uninstalling-toolkit/

Yes, you can partition your disk for both backups and general storage, and optionally use different formats for them. Please note that only APFS (and Mac OS Extended (Journaled, in Catalina or earlier) support encryption.

1. Erase your external disk and use APFS as the format.
2. In Disk Utility, click Partition. If you’re prompted to add a volume instead, click Partition to confirm your intent.
3. Add a new partition (for general storage), and choose the desired size and format. ExFAT is fully compatible with both Windows PCs and Macs, but it doesn’t support encryption.
4. When finished, apply the changes.
5. Setup Time Machine on the APFS volume. Be sure to encrypt the backups and save the password.

Unless I am misinterpreting your question, it seems apparent to me that you intend to install "Seagate Toolkit".

But now I need to allow some setting for another app called toolkit (seagate),

Follow their instructions, here: https://www.seagate.com/support/kb/how-to-change-startup-disk-security-settings-on-an-apple-silicon-mac/

If you are concerned that it's "safe" I think you need to explain that concern. Any non-Apple product that seeks to reduce macOS's system security is less than ideal, but whether that intent is "safe" or not is a question only you can answer.

Another question is why you believe you need "Seagate Toolkit" and the specific benefit you are expecting to accrue from its use. No one can answer that for you.

I would personally recommend getting a 2 TB drive instead, and partitioning that in half (1 TB each side). If you're fine with the 1 TB drive though, 500 - 500 should be fine. (I use 500 instead of 512 because one terabyte (TB) = 1000 gigabytes (GB). On the other hand, 1 tebibyte (TiB) = 1024 gibibytes (GiB), but your disk isn't measured in this way.)

If you want to password-protect your backups, or if you have FileVault encryption enabled for your Mac, you should encrypt the Time Machine backup partition (the option is shown while setting up Time Machine). When the backups are encrypted, the passphrase you set is required to access the backups. Without the passphrase, the backups are inaccessible. This provides greater security for your backup data (not the general storage partition) in case your backup drive is stolen.