Apple plans to change its Mac operating system so that requests for broad data access by applications, including AI agents, become more explicit. The company said some developers have been using the Full Disk Access feature in ways that can put users at risk by exposing files, mail, messages, and browsing history without full user understanding. Going forward, Apple will introduce additional controls so that users who want to grant this level of access can only do so with very explicit action. The move follows criticism of Meta’s Muse AI agent, which some users claimed accessed private messages on their Macs. Meta said Muse access to Messages is strictly opt-in and requires both Full Disk Access and a Messages connector. Unlike iPhones and iPads, which sandbox apps by default, Macs allow greater flexibility for tools such as cloud backup services. Apple warned that as AI agents become more capable and autonomous.
Apple plans to change its Mac operating system so that requests for broad data access by applications, including AI agents, become more explicit. The company said some developers have been using the Full Disk Access feature in ways that can put users at risk by exposing files, mail, messages, and browsing history without full user understanding. Going forward, Apple will introduce additional controls so that users who want to grant this level of access can only do so with very explicit action. The move follows criticism of Meta’s Muse AI agent, which some users claimed accessed private messages on their Macs. Meta said Muse access to Messages is strictly opt-in and requires both Full Disk Access and a Messages connector. Unlike iPhones and iPads, which sandbox apps by default, Macs allow greater flexibility for tools such as cloud backup services. Apple warned that as AI agents become more capable and autonomous.