--- title: "adprivacyd: what it is, why it connects, and whether to block it · Kilobat" url: "https://kilobat.app/processes/adprivacyd" description: "adprivacyd manages advertising privacy on a Mac and lets you opt out of personalized ads. What it does and how to turn off Personalized Ads." --- Diagnostics, analytics and ads # What is adprivacyd? `adprivacyd` is the advertising privacy daemon. It manages your privacy for Apple's ads in the App Store, Apple News and Stocks. It also lets you opt out of personalized ads. Process: `adprivacyd` · Made by Apple · Applies to: macOS 14 Sonoma and later. Checked on macOS 27.2. · Checked: 1 November 2026 ## Short answer Part of macOS. It manages advertising privacy for Apple's own ads in the App Store, Apple News and Stocks, including your opt-out from personalized ads. Block with care Blocking it saves almost no data and may keep your ad privacy choices from reaching Apple. Use the Apple Advertising setting instead. Path `/usr/libexec/adprivacyd` launchd label `com.apple.ap.adprivacyd` Signing identifier `com.apple.ap.adprivacyd` ## What it is The man page says that `adprivacyd` “manages user privacy in advertising and allows opting out of targeted advertisements”. It has no options. The program is `/usr/libexec/adprivacyd`, started for each user as `com.apple.ap.adprivacyd`. Its launchd property list runs it every 259,200 seconds, which is every three days, and on account changes. Apple's advertising privacy page says that personalized ads appear in the App Store, Apple News and Stocks. Apple Maps shows only contextual ads. ## Why it uses the network - **Your ad settings.** Your Personalized Ads choice must reach Apple's advertising platform to take effect. - **Account and storefront changes.** Its launchd file starts it when your Apple Account, iTunes account or storefront changes, and on a schedule. ## How much is normal Small, occasional connections are usual. It runs about every three days and after account changes. Apple says that turning off Personalized Ads may not decrease the number of ads you see. The ads become less relevant to you. With Location Services off, Apple says that its advertising platform doesn't receive your approximate device location. ## When it uses a lot, and why - **Not documented as heavy.** Apple documents no large transfers for `adprivacyd`. Its work is settings and identifiers. ## Is it safe to block? Block with care Blocking it saves almost no data and may keep your ad privacy choices from reaching Apple. Use the Apple Advertising setting instead. What breaks if you block it - Changes to Personalized Ads may not take effect on Apple's side. - Apple doesn't document its other tasks, so ad-related features in the App Store and News may behave differently. Blocking means a firewall rule that refuses its connections. Don’t quit or disable a macOS process to save data: macOS starts it again, and other features depend on it. ## Reduce its use 1. Choose Apple menu › System Settings › Privacy & Security › Apple Advertising. 2. Deselect Personalized Ads. 3. To see what Apple uses, click View Ad Targeting Information on the same page. 4. Don't quit `adprivacyd` in Activity Monitor. macOS starts it again. ## See how much it uses 1. Open Activity Monitor from Applications › Utilities. Click Network. 2. Type `adprivacyd` in the search field. The Sent Bytes and Rcvd Bytes columns show what it moved since it started. 3. In Terminal, watch only this process. Press d to show the change per second, and q to quit. ``` nettop -p 'adprivacyd' -P ``` ## With Kilobat 1. In the Kilobat app list, search for `adprivacyd`. Its row shows the live rate and what it moved today. 2. In Connections, click the ⓘ button on one of its rows. The popover shows this page’s short answer, without going online. 3. In Terminal, ask the same question. Add `--json` for scripts and agents. ``` kilobat explain 'adprivacyd' ``` 4. Show its traffic over one day. ``` kilobat bandwidth 'adprivacyd' day ``` 5. Through MCP, an AI agent asks `explain_connection` with the process name. It gets the same facts. The live view and the explanations are free. History in the app needs Kilobat Pro. Blocking needs Pro and the network filter: see the [network filter](https://kilobat.app/docs/blocking#filtering), [Protection](https://kilobat.app/docs/blocking#protection) and the [hotspot data saver](https://kilobat.app/save-hotspot-data). ## Questions **What are ad segments?** Apple says that segments are groups of people who share similar characteristics. Apple uses them to deliver personalized ads in the App Store, Apple News and Stocks. **Does turning off Personalized Ads mean no ads?** No. Apple says that it may not decrease the number of ads. They just aren't personalized. **Is adprivacyd tracking me?** Its man page says that it manages privacy in advertising and opting out. Apple's advertising privacy page describes what Apple uses. ## Sources - adprivacyd(8), man page installed with macOS 27.2 - launchd property list com.apple.ap.adprivacyd, macOS 27.2 - [Apple Legal: Apple Advertising & Privacy](https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/apple-advertising/) Checked on 1 November 2026. ## Related - [analyticsd](https://kilobat.app/processes/analyticsd): Part of macOS. It collects diagnostics and usage data on the Mac for users who opted in to sharing analytics. - [SubmitDiagInfo](https://kilobat.app/processes/reportcrash): Part of macOS. ReportCrash saves crash reports on the Mac. SubmitDiagInfo sends diagnostic and usage information to Apple, but only if you opted in. - [appstoreagent](https://kilobat.app/processes/appstoreagent): Part of macOS. They download and update apps from the App Store, so app downloads show under them, not under the App Store app.