[MacTUG] OS X email images not loading

[Glenn Anderson]

Hi  Keith,

There does not seem to be an option to allow for the downloading of images in emails that are sent from people in one’s contact list.

Here is what Apple says about Mail Privacy Protection...



Mail Privacy Protection

Emails you receive may include remote content that allows the email’s sender to learn information about you. When you open an email, information about your Mail activity can be collected by the sender without transparency and an ability to control what information is shared. Email senders may learn when and how many times you opened their email, whether you forwarded the email, your Internet Protocol (IP) address, and other data that can be used to build a profile of your behavior and learn your location.

Protect Mail Activity helps protect your privacy by preventing email senders, including Apple, from learning information about your Mail activity. When you receive an email in the Mail app, rather than downloading remote content when you open an email, Protect Mail Activity downloads remote content in the background by default — regardless of whether you engage with the email. Apple does not learn any information about the content.

In addition, Protect Mail Activity routes all remote content downloaded by Mail through two separate relays operated by different entities. The first knows your IP address, but not the remote Mail content you receive. The second knows the remote Mail content you receive, but not your IP address, instead providing a generalized identity to the destination. This way, no single entity has the information to identify both you and the remote Mail content you receive. Senders can’t use your IP address as a unique identifier to connect your activity across websites or apps to build a profile about you.

You can disable Protect Mail Activity at any time in iOS and iPadOS by going to Settings > Mail > Privacy Protection, then tapping to turn off Protect Mail Activity. On Mac, go to Mail > Preferences > Privacy, then deselect Protect Mail Activity.

If you choose to disable Protect Mail Activity, the Hide IP Address feature will still mask your IP address using the same two-separate-internet-relays design. You can disable Hide IP Address at any time in iOS and iPadOS by going to Settings > Mail > Privacy Protection, then tapping to turn off Hide IP Address. On Mac, go to Mail > Preferences > Privacy, then deselect Hide IP Address.

By using these features, you agree and consent to Apple’s and its subsidiaries’ and agents’ transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of this information as described above.

At all times, information collected by Apple will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at www.apple.com/privacy<http://www.apple.com/privacy>.


On Jan 20, 2022, at 10:22 AM, Keith D Peck <keith.peck at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:keith.peck at uwaterloo.ca>> wrote:

Thanks Glenn,
Outlook for O365 for Mac (and PC) has had similar email Security settings for reading email that defaults to never automatically download pictures from the internet for a long time.

I don’t view it as something now being broken that needs to be fixed, but as a needed feature to reduce the risk that hackers might be able to compromise a machine by embedding code in an email or on a website that the email links to.

Requiring a click by the user before downloading unsure content is a good thing.

The O365 web version even takes this precaution, but it does allow you to add a known contact to your safe senders list so the email reader will trust content from the sender and automatically include images from them.

Does the new Mac Mail app have a setting to only automatically download images in messages from “my contacts”?

<image001.png>

Keith Peck
Computing Consultant, Client Services,
Information Systems and Technology
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1.
EC2-2126B / EV2-1008A, (519) 888-4567 x.47770
kdpeck at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:kdpeck at uwaterloo.ca>

I acknowledge that I work and reside on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised and given to Six Nations, which includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.


From: Glenn Anderson <anderson at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:anderson at uwaterloo.ca>>
Date: Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 9:50 AM
To: MacTUG <MacTUG at lists.uwaterloo.ca<mailto:MacTUG at lists.uwaterloo.ca>>
Cc: IST-CRS <dl-IST-CRS at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:dl-IST-CRS at uwaterloo.ca>>
Subject: OS X email images not loading

I have a few clients who were finding that their OS X email messages aren’t show images but instead a <PastedGraphic-3.png> and a message at the top of the message "Your network preferences prevent content from loading privately" and an option to "load content directly”

This is caused by the person having turned on Apple’s new to OS X 12.x email privacy as seen below:

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To fix this they need to uncheck the Protect Mail Activity option, I think they can continue to choose to Hide their IP as seen below.

<PastedGraphic-6.png>

After disabling these settings the user will still likely still have to load the images for the already existing email messages.

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As to how the privacy setting gets turned on, it sounds like during the process of updating to OS X 12.1 one of the options/questions asked is do you want to turn on the new email privacy feature. As my Macs are at 12.1

Here is what the Daily Bulletin looks like when this happens.

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