Privacy Protector - User Guide

The aim of Privacy Protector is to effectively and securely get rid of files and data that may invade your privacy and act as potential threats to your Mac. You can use this app to remove a host of sensitive information that can be used to track your activities. Specifically, it clears your cache files, cookies, browsing history, and more, all at the click of a button.

First Launch and Using the App:

The app functions as a standalone app. This means that as soon as you have download the app and launched it, it’ll run off your Dock and the main app screen will appear before you.

As soon as you’ve launched the app and it appears on your screen, you will be asked to select your user folder for scanning purposes. At this stage, simply click on the large ‘Select User Folder’ icon button on the bottom right corner.

Once you click the ‘Select User Folder’ button, you will be presented with a Folder Select window where you have to simply locate your main user folder on your Mac. Select that folder with your mouse on the left column of the Finder window, and then hit the ‘Choose’ button on the bottom right of the same frame.

After your User folder has been selected and scanned, you will be presented with a screen showing the results of the scan, and where content can be deleted from using the app. 

Each of the results categories has a ‘Details’ button present where you can see a more in-depth look at what is being scanned and detected. Furthermore, there is a On/Off toggle button that lets you choose whether or not you want Privacy Protector to take action on that particular field.

As a quick summary, this is what the app allows you to detect and delete:

• Internet Browsers: Remove Caches, Cookies, History, Downloads, Forms, Recent Searches, Web Storage, Last Session Information and much more (Safari, Chrome, Firefox)
• QuickTime Player: Remove Caches, Download Quarantine History, Recent Items
• Finder: Remove Download Quarantine History, Recent Items
• Preview: Remove Recent Items
• Empty Mail Downloads
• Remove Flash Cookies

Once you are satisfied by the selection of items you wish to delete, click the ‘Next’ button on the bottom right corner of the app window. At this point, you may see a prompt message appear, as shown below, which requests you to close certain apps before you can proceed. To Quit the app(s) shown, direct yourself to that app and hit Cmd + Q.

You will then proceed to the next stage where you will have a chance to review the items you have selected before going forth and deleting them. You can, at this stage, go back (‘Back’ button at bottom left of the app window) and modify your selections or press ‘Clean’ at the bottom right corner of the screen. It is always advisable to make a Time Machine backup of contents on your Mac before any intensive clearing and deleting of content.

Lastly, once you have selected ‘Clean’, the app will proceed to do the same and you will finally be presented with a results screen for how much low-level, high threat content was cleaned and how much space was saved.

Preferences:

When the app window is open, click Cmd + , (command and comma) or go to Privacy Protector > Preferences from the top left corner of your menubar on top to open the Preferences menu within the app.

The Preferences panel allows you to choose whether or not you want Privacy Protector to delete content regularly or with varying degrees of security.

Select the ‘Secure Delete’ checkbox if you wish to delete via a secure deletion process, whereby the more secure the method of deletion, the greater the cleaning time will increase. 

Use the slider bar to select one of three secure deletion levels (Low, Medium, High).