Is MacGuard safe?

The short answer

Yes. MacGuard for Mac is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, which means Apple scanned it for malicious software before it could be distributed. The iPhone and iPad companion is reviewed by Apple and sold only on the App Store. The Mac app is downloaded only from getmacguard.com, and each release lists its exact file size and SHA-256 checksum so you can confirm your copy is genuine.

Not the same as other things called "MacGuard"

The name has been used before, so search results can be confusing. This page is about MacGuard, the anti-theft alarm for Apple silicon MacBooks, made by Grisha Pipoyan and published at getmacguard.com. It is unrelated to:

• "Mac Guard" or "MacGuard" from 2011. That was fake antivirus software, a variant of the Mac Defender scam, that showed fake infection warnings to sell a useless product. It has nothing to do with this app, and it never came from getmacguard.com.
• An open-source project on GitHub also named MacGuard. It's a separate anti-theft app by a different developer. It isn't affiliated with us.
• MacGuard laptop cases and a security consulting company that use the same name.

Check your copy yourself

1. Download MacGuard only from the Download page.
2. In Terminal, run shasum -a 256 followed by the path to the DMG, and compare the result with the SHA-256 checksum shown on the Download page. They must match exactly.
3. After installing, run spctl -a -vv /Applications/MacGuard.app. The result should say accepted with source=Notarized Developer ID.

If either check fails, don't open the app, and email support@getmacguard.com.

Why it asks for the permissions it does

• Motion helper (administrator approval): reading the motion and lid sensors on Apple silicon needs a small helper that runs with system privileges. You approve it once in macOS, and it only reports movement, lid angle, and input categories to MacGuard.
• Input Monitoring (if asked): lets MacGuard notice that a key was pressed or the trackpad was used. It never records which keys or what you type.
• Camera (optional): only if you turn on Camera Evidence. macOS shows its camera indicator whenever it's in use.
• Notifications (iPhone and iPad): so your phone can show alarm alerts.

What it does with your data

• No account, no ads, and no tracking across apps or websites.
• The alarm runs on your Mac and works without internet.
• Incident video stays on your Mac and is never uploaded.
• At most three photos per incident go to the cloud, only with Camera Evidence on and a companion paired, and only your paired iPhone or iPad can open them.
• Cloud alerts and photos are deleted automatically after about 30 days.

The Privacy Policy has the full details.