Meta Denies Muse AI Accessed Private Messages Without Permission

Meta has denied allegations that its new AI agent, Muse, accessed private iMessage data on a Mac without user authorization. The dispute centers on a test conducted by Inc. columnist Jason Aten, who reported that Muse suggested column ideas based on his private conversations with a podcast co-host and an editor.

Aten stated he explicitly declined to grant Muse access to Messages, Calendar, and other personal data, and confirmed that macOS Full Disk Access was disabled. However, he later found evidence suggesting Muse had synced data reaching line 187,462 of the local Messages database.

“You need to enable both Full Disk Access and the Messages connector for Muse to read your messages. It cannot read your messages without you doing that.”

When questioned, Muse reportedly claimed it only read text from on-screen notification banners, not the message history. Aten argued the volume of data processed far exceeded what notification banners could provide.

Meta communications VP Andy Stone countered that Muse integration with macOS Messages is entirely optional. He stated the user must manually enable both Full Disk Access and the Messages connector within Muse settings for the agent to read message content.

Meta Superintelligence Labs executive David Singleton added that three distinct permission layers involving the app and macOS protections prevent unauthorized access. He asserted these barriers could not be bypassed even by a software bug.

It remains unclear whether Aten inadvertently enabled permissions during setup or if a technical flaw allowed the data sync. Independent verification of the events on Aten's machine has not been possible.