Technology·3 October 2026·1 min readTechnical readSource-backed

Apple Modifies MacOS Full-Disk Access Permissions Following Privacy Concerns Over Artificial Intelligence Agents

Apple announced changes to its macOS privacy settings to stop third-party app developers from misusing them to access user message histories.

By WireUnwired Editorial Team

gatekeeping ai agents 1152x648 1 — Ars Technica

WIREUNWIRED BRIEF

Apple announced changes to its macOS privacy settings to stop third-party app developers from misusing them to access user message histories. The announcement follows an incident involving tech columnist Jason Aten, who reported that Meta’s new general-purpose artificial intelligence agent, Muse, sent him an unsolicited notification referencing a private message thread with a co-worker.

Aten stated he never gave Muse permission to read his messages. Meta Chief Technology Officer David Singleton responded that Muse can only read messages if users manually grant full-disk access at the system level and enable a specific messages connector setting in the app. However, macOS security expert Patrick Wardle questioned this explanation, noting that full-disk access makes all non-root files, chats, and browsing history readable.

Apple stated that some developers are using full-disk access in ways that risk exposing everything on user systems without their full knowledge and understanding.

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SOURCE & ATTRIBUTION

Ars Technica

Original author: Dan Goodin

Original publication: 3 October 2026 04:33

Read full story on Ars Technica ↗

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STORY TITLE:
Apple Modifies MacOS Full-Disk Access Permissions Following Privacy Concerns Over Artificial Intelligence Agents
SOURCE:
Ars Technica
ORIGINAL URL:
https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/10/apple-changes-full-disk-access-permissions-to-curb-abuse-from-ai-agents/

SOURCE EXCERPT:
Meta says FDA isn't sufficient to Muse reading messages. Apple begs to differ.

Last updated 3 October 2026 08:12

Original sourceArs Technica ↗