Researcher Maps macOS Knowledge Graph That Infers Relationships and Retains Removed Contacts

Summary

Researcher Dario Pasquini’s analysis finds macOS stores a local knowledge graph combining contact, communication and other data with inferred relationships. Removed contacts’ conclusions may remain in a separate table, and apps with Full Disk Access can read the store.

Key points

Pasquini reports that macOS keeps the graph in 51 SQLite databases, including graph.db, under ~/Library/IntelligencePlatform.
The graph combines data from apps and devices, and uses a model and rules to infer relationships and other details; some findings are marked unverified.
Removing a contact stops the live graph from deriving facts about them, but retracted facts may remain in expired_stable_graph with confidence scores and sources.
Ordinary apps are blocked by Full Disk Access protection, but apps granted that permission—and malware that obtains it—can read the store.
The joined records can expose inferred relationships, household groupings, contact details, calendar locations and communication metadata, according to Pasquini.
The article recommends reviewing Full Disk Access, limiting Siri Suggestions data sources and using FileVault for protection if a Mac is lost or stolen; these measures do not provide a switch to disable the graph.

Article Details

Attack Vectors: An app granted Full Disk Access can read the local knowledge-graph databases; the article also describes this as a potential capability of malware that obtains that permission, not as an observed intrusion.
The databases contain joined personal information, including inferred relationships, contact details, calendar events, and communication metadata.
Defensive Notes: Review System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access and remove permission from apps that are unused or unrecognized.
Keep FileVault enabled to protect the databases if a Mac is lost or stolen; the article notes that it does not protect against apps running on the Mac.
Limit which apps Siri Suggestions can use, while noting that Apple does not say whether excluding an app also keeps its data out of the graph.
If using Pasquini’s iKnow viewer, revoke Full Disk Access from Terminal afterward and leave its optional AI-agent mode off to avoid sending read data to the model’s location.