Apple Tightens macOS 'Full Disk Access' Controls As AI Agents 'Substantially' Increase Risk (techcrunch.com)
(Friday October 02, 2026 @05:00PM (BeauHD)
from the full-disk-full-risk dept.)
- Reference: 0186008062
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/10/02/2056223/apple-tightens-macos-full-disk-access-controls-as-ai-agents-substantially-increase-risk
- Source link: https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/02/apple-says-its-tightening-macos-full-disk-access-controls-due-to-new-risks-from-ai-agents/
Apple says it will [1]tighten macOS Full Disk Access controls as increasingly capable AI agents raise the risks of apps gaining broad access to users' files, messages, mail, and browsing history. TechCrunch reports:
> Days after a journalist claimed that Meta's Muse app on Mac read their private messages -- a claim that Meta disputed -- Apple announced that it's introducing additional controls around a setting called "Full Disk Access" on macOS. The feature was designed to allow backups to function properly, but AI agents have now increased "the risks associated with this level of access," Apple said. [...] In Muse's case, the AI optionally allows users to enable Full Disk Access. This setting, Apple explains, gives an app permission to access files, mail, messages, and even browsing history.
>
> "Some developers are using Full Disk Access in ways that could put users at risk, exposing everything on their systems... without users' full knowledge and understanding," Apple said in a [2]new blog post aimed at developers. The company says that, going forward, it will introduce new controls aimed at ensuring that users who "genuinely wish to grant an app this extraordinary level of access" can do so only with "every explicit user action."
>
> "Addressing this is critical. As AI agents become increasingly capable and autonomous, the risks associated with this level of access will grow substantially. We are committed to ensuring users clearly understand these risks before granting such access, so they can make informed decisions about their own data and privacy," Apple wrote.
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/02/apple-says-its-tightening-macos-full-disk-access-controls-due-to-new-risks-from-ai-agents/
[2] https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=p6zjojqw
> Days after a journalist claimed that Meta's Muse app on Mac read their private messages -- a claim that Meta disputed -- Apple announced that it's introducing additional controls around a setting called "Full Disk Access" on macOS. The feature was designed to allow backups to function properly, but AI agents have now increased "the risks associated with this level of access," Apple said. [...] In Muse's case, the AI optionally allows users to enable Full Disk Access. This setting, Apple explains, gives an app permission to access files, mail, messages, and even browsing history.
>
> "Some developers are using Full Disk Access in ways that could put users at risk, exposing everything on their systems... without users' full knowledge and understanding," Apple said in a [2]new blog post aimed at developers. The company says that, going forward, it will introduce new controls aimed at ensuring that users who "genuinely wish to grant an app this extraordinary level of access" can do so only with "every explicit user action."
>
> "Addressing this is critical. As AI agents become increasingly capable and autonomous, the risks associated with this level of access will grow substantially. We are committed to ensuring users clearly understand these risks before granting such access, so they can make informed decisions about their own data and privacy," Apple wrote.
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/02/apple-says-its-tightening-macos-full-disk-access-controls-due-to-new-risks-from-ai-agents/
[2] https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=p6zjojqw
Correct. And oh, no. (Score:2)
This looks like the final cell-phonification of the Mac. I'm bummed.
But they're right - if you assume that a significant fraction of Mac users are going to install some sort of third-party interface with an LLM, it is either significantly extend and harden the security perimeter deeper into the OS or your customers will routinely have everything exfiled as a matter of course, and it would just be cheaper to make iCloud into an anonymous FTP site.
And given Zuckerbook's demonstrated willingness to [1]brazenly, [arstechnica.com]
[1] https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/06/meta-and-yandex-are-de-anonymizing-android-users-web-browsing-identifiers/