Muse Privacy Issue Prompts Apple Action on Full Disk Access

Apple plans to introduce additional controls around Full Disk Access on the Mac, 9to5Mac reports, after Meta's Muse app was found using that permission to extract a complete map of a user's relationships on an hourly basis. The feature was originally intended for backup apps, but developers are repurposing it for AI agents.

Security researcher Karan Joshi, writing in Wired, discovered that Muse was instructed to create "a page for every person in the user's life," compiling where they live, what they do, recurring topics, and important dates. Giving Muse full disk access meant it could read all messages, files, and personal data on your Mac.

Apple says it will "introduce additional controls to ensure that users who genuinely wish to grant an app this extraordinary level of access can only do so with very explicit user action." The company called the step "critical."

What Apple should do

Stronger warnings are the right move. The current permission prompt doesn't communicate the gravity. A clearer message should say this is an "access-all-areas pass" meant only for backup apps, and that granting it lets the app read all of your personal data, including private messages. The default response should be No.

What Apple must not do

Apple should not repeat the macOS Sequoia mistake with screen recording permissions. That forced weekly confirmations and after every restart, which was widely condemned as turning macOS into Microsoft Vista. If a user chooses to grant Full Disk Access, macOS should accept that decision. No forced confirmations, weekly or otherwise.

Skip this permission unless you're sure

For you: If any app asks for Full Disk Access on your Mac and isn't a backup tool you trust completely, your answer should be No. You can verify which apps already have it in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access. Revoke any you don't recognize.

• Apple
• Full Disk Access
• macOS
• Meta
• Muse
• privacy