Overview
- Apple announced on Friday that it will add new controls to the macOS Full Disk Access permission to require more explicit user action before an app can get systemwide disk access.
- Full Disk Access is a macOS setting that lets an app read files across a Mac, including Mail, Messages and browser data, and Apple says some developers have used it in ways that could put users at risk.
- The announcement followed a report that Meta’s Muse AI appeared to access a journalist’s private Messages on a Mac; Meta says Muse’s Messages feature is strictly opt in and requires both Full Disk Access and a Muse Messages connector.
- Security researchers have questioned Meta’s account, noting that Full Disk Access normally allows reading non‑root files such as message databases and browser history, which leaves technical questions about how Muse could do or not do that without those permissions.
- Apple gave no timeline or technical details for the new controls, leaving open how backup and productivity apps that legitimately rely on Full Disk Access will work and raising the prospect of added prompts or limits for agentic AI on Macs.