Apple says it is changing its macOS privacy settings to stop third-party app developers from misusing them to access message histories.
Friday’s announcement comes two weeks after tech columnist Jason Aten said that Meta’s new general-purpose AI agent Muse sent him an unsolicited notification referencing a thread between him and a co-worker over Apple Messages. Aten said he never granted Muse permissions to read his messages and had assumed they were off-limits.
Meta CTO David Singleton said Muse could only read Messages content if macOS system-level Full Disk Access was granted and the Messages connector was enabled. macOS security expert Patrick Wardle noted that with Full Disk Access, any non-root file is readable — browsing history, browser cookies, chats, etc.
Apple’s statement: “Some developers are using Full Disk Access in ways that could put users at risk, exposing everything on their systems—including files, mail, messages, and even browsing history—without users’ full knowledge and understanding.”
“As AI agents become increasingly capable and autonomous, the risks associated with this level of access will grow substantially. We are committed to ensuring users clearly understand these risks before granting such access.”
Apple didn’t name Meta, Muse, or any other app. The announcement came 11 days after Wardle disclosed a Muse configuration allowing any app or code on a Mac to take full control of the AI assistant. Amazon blocked Muse from its platform because such apps “should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether or not to participate.”