Privacy Alert: Major Bug in iPhone Mirroring Exposes Personal Apps to Employers in macOS Sequoia and iOS 18

There is a bug in the iPhone Mirroring feature of macOS Sequoia and iOS 18. This causes Mac computers to see iPhone apps as Mac apps, potentially making employees’ personal iPhone apps visible to their employers.

Cybersecurity bed Sevco found the bug at the end of September when he noticed that personal iOS applications were marked as “installed on Mac devices.” When using iPhone Mirroring, each iPhone used creates an entry in the following Mac library: /Users//Library/Daemon Captures//Data/Library/Repositories/. This means that the Mac treats the phone apps as if they were Mac apps.

The bug could cause companies to accidentally breach the confidentiality of their employees. For example, if a company runs an automated audit of all Mac apps, employees’ personal iPhone apps could be included. Companies can’t see apps, but according to Sevco there is a big privacy risk if employees know what apps their employees use on their private phones.

Sevco reported the bug to Apple, which is currently working on a fix. The cybersecurity company advises employees not to use iPhone Mirroring with work Macs.

iPhone Mirroring allows the user to control their phone from the Mac, including opening apps and answering calls. The feature is not yet available in the European Union due to… Digital Markets Actalthough Apple and the European Commission have not clarified how the feature breaks that law.