Q: Unwanted network connections.

Please condense your post into a question.

Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question

Well what if I don't want my location to be documented constantly while using my mac? Why can't i just turn it off. I believe it is mainly used for Maps.

If you go under System Preferences / Security & Privacy, you will see the window below. You can select which application have access to Location Services.

Kim

I kind of get what you're saying. The trouble is that it's a multi-faceted problem and you might not consider all the use cases.

Usually, the features are enabled to provide some kind of convenience/enhancement to the user experience. Often in subtle ways you don't notice.

Take the location services, for example - sure, it's used by Maps.app to center the map when you open it, but it may also be used by other applications. For example, some web sites may use your location to customize content (this is common for local news articles, for example). Or how about the clock automatically resetting based on your location (very handy if you're a traveller moving between time zones). Both of these are cases you might not notice - nor need - but they do have some value for a lot of people.

I think the bigger issue you raise is one of transparency - an awareness of what connections are open, and what their purpose. It's hard to document those, though, in a way that makes sense for most users.

It's a simple process to disable SIP.

I disabled it primarily because that was the only way I could get rid of the butt-ugly Dock Apple forced upon us in El Capitan.

Now I run cDock 2, which requires SIMBL be installed.

It allows me to change many aspects of the Dock and I now have a stylish 3D Dock again.

Default Folder X v4 also couldn't run with SIP enabled.

Version 5 now runs as an app and works with SIP enabled.

So the only reason I now have SIP disabled is because of the atrocious Dock.

By providing such a repulsive look for an integral part of the OS and no way to change it, Apple is forcing me and others to use an unapproved hack and disable an important security feature that was specifically incorporated into El Capitan to prevent users from mucking it up.

How to turn off System Integrity Protection in El Capitan

1. Click the  menu.
2. Select Restart...
3. Hold down command-R to boot into the Recovery System.
4. Click the Utilities menu and select Terminal.
5. Type csrutil disable and press return.
6. Close the Terminal app.
7. Click the  menu and select Restart....

To re-enable SIP, repeat these steps, changing csrutil disable to csrutil enable.

Please use System preferences > Security & Privacy ...

  ... to turn off any accesses to your computer you do not want.

Then go about your business and stop obsessing over this.

If you decide to go out onto the Internet, they ARE out to get you. But since you have a well-protected Mac, "getting to you" requires your complicity in finding and installing the garbage for them.

If you are not happy about the risks of the Internet, pull the plug on your Router and don't go there.

I don't know how you got to level 9 with blanket statements like that.

Surely you're aware that simply following your steps does nothing to disable gamed, SpotlightNetHelper, Webkit, photolibraryd, storeassetd and a plethora of other processes from phoning home?

Or did you fail to comprehend GreenMamba's message of saying that many users don't want our computers calling Apple numerous times a day/minute for things that are unrelated to what we're using our computers for?

I've never opened Game Center, so why should gamed be calling home all the time?

I've never opened Photos, so why should photolibraryd be calling home all the time?

I have disabled Spotlight suggestions and Safari search engine suggestions, yet connection attempts by Spotlight via Spotlight Web Content and SpotlightNethelper still appear in Little Snitch.

Etc. etc. etc.