---
title: "Researchers reveal how macOS knowledge graph stores personal data in plaintext"
description: "Eighth Rank analysis shows the Personal Knowledge Graph uses 51 SQLite databases, 181 entity classes and a 48-hour deletion delay."
url: https://mactoreality.com/researchers-reveal-how-macos-knowledge-graph-stores-personal-data-in-plaintext
published: 2026-11-08T20:13:51Z
updated: 2026-11-08T20:13:51Z
author: "Mac to Reality Newsdesk"
category: Rumours
tags: ["Apple Intelligence & Siri","Mac","Privacy & security","Software"]
publisher: Mac to Reality
ai_assisted: true
apple_heat_impact: 0
---

# Researchers reveal how macOS knowledge graph stores personal data in plaintext

*Eighth Rank analysis shows the Personal Knowledge Graph uses 51 SQLite databases, 181 entity classes and a 48-hour deletion delay.*

**Key points**

- Apple's Personal Knowledge Graph daemon on macOS compiles personal data using 51 SQLite databases stored in plaintext.
- The graph uses 181 entity classes and 278 predicates, with confidence scores assigned to each relationship.
- Deleted data remains in an expired table for up to 48 hours before being pruned.

Security researchers at Eighth Rank have detailed how Apple’s Personal Knowledge Graph on macOS compiles extensive personal data on-device, in an analysis published on its site. AppleInsider has also covered the findings.

The system runs a daemon called *knowledgeconstructiond* that analyses device content and builds a knowledge graph stored in the *Library/IntelligencePlatform* directory. That directory contains 51 SQLite databases in plaintext, protected only by TCC Full Disk Access. The main *graph.db* database uses 181 entity classes and 278 predicates. Entity types include person, group of humans, organism, person in the arts, sports organisation and political party. Predicates cover what kind of thing an entity is, its genre, religion, topics a person is interested in, and face cluster for a person.

Each relationship row carries a confidence score between 0 and 1. The system infers family relationships using 144 behavioural features and analysis of photos. It can determine household composition, ages, daycare attended, associated phone numbers and location patterns. Deleted data does not disappear immediately; it is moved to an *expired_stable_graph* table and pruned after 48 hours.

The knowledge graph has been present in macOS since version 13, launched in 2022. Apple Intelligence with Siri personal context relies on data compiled by this graph.

## Sources

- [Eighth Rank: Anatomy of Apple's Personal Knowledge Graph](https://8rank.ai/game/apple-intelligence-personal-knowledge-graph)
- [AppleInsider: How Apple's Personal Knowledge Graph learns about your life on Mac](https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/11/08/how-apples-personal-knowledge-graph-learns-about-your-life-on-mac)

*This report was written by the Mac to Reality newsdesk with AI assistance from the sources listed above, under the editorial policy at https://mactoreality.com/editorial-policy.*