iPhone and Mac users running iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia can take advantage of one of the best features ever introduced by Apple: iPhone Mirroring. While the company is working to bring drag-and-drop functionality later this month, this feature is already very handy for iPhone owners who spend time working on a Mac.
However, if you use a Mac computer at work, you should stop using iPhone Mirroring on it right now, as a security risk could expose your data to your employer.
At least, that’s what security group Sevco (via 9to5Mac) is warning. When iPhone Mirroring is in use, and you open an iPhone app, the Mac creates a library in this location: /Users/<user>/Library/Daemon Containers/<uuid>/Data/Library/Caches/<app_name>
As a result, companies can see all the iPhone apps you use when they run automated network audits. While the security group claims the data can’t be seen, it still can be a privacy risk for iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia users, as your company could see your downloaded apps. Imagine if you’re using a job recruiter app or something more private.
Sevco writes: “For iPhone users, this Apple bug is a major privacy risk because it can expose aspects of their personal lives that they don’t want to share or that could put them at risk. This could include exposing a VPN app in a country that restricts access to the internet, a dating app that reveals their sexual orientation in a jurisdiction with limited protections or legal consequences, or an app related to a health condition that an employee simply does not want to share. The consequences of such data exposure may be severe.”
The company also says it could be an issue for employers since this represents a “new data liability from potentially collecting private employee data. […] It may lead to violation of major privacy laws such as CCPA, potential litigation, and federal agency enforcement.”
Sevco says it has warned Apple about this security risk with iPhone Mirroring for users running iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. However, the security group decided to reveal this security flaw before Apple fixes it because they are “watching the number of people and companies impacted [by this bug] grow with every day that passes.”
