Apple tightens macOS Full Disk Access as AI agents raise privacy stakes

Apple says it will add stronger consent gates around macOS Full Disk Access, arguing that always-on AI agents have “substantially” raised the risk of apps seeing mail, messages, files and browsing history without users fully understanding what they granted.

In a developer-facing note summarised by TechCrunch and MacRumors on Oct. 2, Apple wrote that Full Disk Access largely sidesteps normal privacy controls so backup apps can work — but “some developers are using Full Disk Access in ways that could put users at risk.” Going forward, users who “genuinely wish to grant an app this extraordinary level of access” will be able to do so only with “very explicit user action.” Apple did not name a ship date or macOS version.

The announcement followed reporting that Meta’s Muse Mac agent appeared to know private Messages content. Meta says Muse needs both Full Disk Access and an opt-in Messages connector; security researchers countered that FDA alone already makes non-root files readable. Ars Technica and The Verge place Apple’s statement in that context, alongside a prior Wired report on a ChatGPT Mac-app data-exposure flaw and Wardle’s disclosure that a Muse misconfiguration could let other code commandeer the agent.

For Canadian Mac users running desktop AI assistants, the practical takeaway is caution: treat Full Disk Access like a master key, revoke it when an agent no longer needs it, and watch for Apple’s forthcoming consent UI before assuming yesterday’s permission prompts still mean the same thing.

Sources: TechCrunch; MacRumors; Ars Technica; The Verge.