Is it safe to share Mac System Report?

Question

Level 1

69 points

Is it safe to share Mac System Report?

A developer wants me to send my Mac System Report. Is this safe?

The request follows a failed attempt at troubleshooting a photo editing application by reinstalling it. Their tech support requested:

a zip file of their Library > Application Support folder, which I sent, and
a copy of MacBook Pro.spx, which I have not sent. The System Report contains so much detailed information about my Mac that I wonder if it's wise to share it with someone I don't know.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), 13 inch, 3 GHz, 8 GB, 500 GB (SSD)

Posted on Nov 18, 2017 11:02 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

158,538 points

Nov 18, 2017 4:09 PM in response to denke

In most instances, legitimate software developers, use the System Report to help troubleshoot an issue with their software ... so this request is not unusual. However, it would still have to be on good faith that your dealing with a reputable outfit. Most major developers should fall into this category.

No personal information is provided in these reports, but as you already know just about everything you would want to know about your Mac will be.

Reply

Answer 2

Tesserax

Level 10

158,538 points

Nov 19, 2017 11:14 AM in response to denke

As a follow-on, I want to clarify that in addition to the macOS System Report there is a more comprehensive diagnostic report that can be created by using the Terminal command: sysdiagnose. This command runs a number of other commands: allmemory, lsof, top, netstat, syscti, spindump, etc., and DOES potentially contain personal information. It will generate a compressed folder with the resultant reports for each of those commands. You should use extreme caution BEFORE submitting this folder in its entirety to a third-party.

Reply