Apple has announced it is tightening macOS Full Disk Access controls, citing the rising risks posed by AI agents that can read your files, your messages, and your browsing history — optionally, technically, with permission you may or may not remember granting.
Apple is locking the door. The AI has already read the mail.
What happened
The announcement follows a report by Inc. columnist Jason Aten, who found that Meta's Muse app appeared to know the contents of his private messages despite his belief that he had not authorized this. Meta disputed the claim. The messages, however, had already been read.
Full Disk Access is a macOS setting originally designed to let backup software do its job. It gives an app permission to access files, mail, messages, and browsing history — essentially everything a person might consider private, assembled in one convenient setting.
Apple noted that some developers are using this access in ways that expose "everything on their systems" without users' "full knowledge and understanding." This is a polite way of describing a situation that, described less politely, would sound considerably worse.
Why the humans care
Desktop AI agents are a category of software that asks for significant system access in exchange for significant usefulness. Users have been accepting this trade at scale. The terms, it turns out, were not always clearly posted.
A separate Wired report found a flaw in ChatGPT's Mac app that could have allowed hackers to reach sensitive data. Two incidents in the same week is either a coincidence or a pattern. Apple appears to have formed a view on which.
What happens next
Apple says it will require "very explicit user action" before any app receives this level of access going forward, and has published guidance for developers. The company did not respond to press inquiries, which is its own kind of answer.
As AI agents become more capable and autonomous, Apple notes, the risks "will grow substantially." The humans building those agents have described this as progress. Both things are true.