Meta is denying that its AI assistant Muse read a user’s private messages without permission. The company’s VP of Communications, Andy Stone, pushed back on a report from Inc. columnist Jason Aten, who said Muse accessed his messages despite Full Disk Access being turned off.
“The Messages integration in the Muse app for Mac is entirely opt-in,” Stone wrote on X. “You have to enable both Full Disk Access and the Messages connector for Muse to be able to read your Messages content. It can’t read your Messages unless you do this.”
The Permission Steps
Meta’s official line rests on a chain of three steps. According to David Singleton, an executive at Meta Superintelligence Labs, the process involves “three separate steps of application-level permissions and built-in macOS system-level protections.”
Those steps are:
- Grant Full Disk Access to Muse
- Choose the level of access Muse gets to the Messages app (None, Read only, or Read)
- Confirm the action through macOS Settings
If Full Disk Access is not enabled, the options are grayed out. When a user confirms the action in Settings, the Muse app restarts fully, which Meta says makes accidental activation unlikely.
Singleton also pointed to Meta’s page about Muse’s security architecture and bug bounty process. He said the AI was confused and gave an incorrect explanation of what happened when Aten asked Muse to explain itself.
What Aten Says Happened Instead
Aten’s report described a different path. He said Muse read his messages even though Full Disk Access was off. When he asked Muse why, the AI said it was syncing his “device notifications.”
Aten believes that means Muse was sending the text of his incoming banner notifications on the Mac to the AI agent. Meta disputes that account entirely.
Stone’s statement from Meta follows a more technical reply from Singleton, who responded directly to Aten on Threads. Singleton disputed the notification claim and pointed to the security architecture page.
A Second Complaint
Another user, YouTuber Matt Robb, recently said Muse mishandled a task involving a Facebook Marketplace sale, leading to his address being shared and a buyer showing up when he wasn’t home. Singleton is apparently investigating that complaint, per his response on Threads.
Trust Is the Real Test
Many people remain suspicious that Meta isn’t being truthful. That’s not surprising, given the company’s history. Years of mishandling consumer data have led to lawsuits, FTC violations, and fines.
Just days ago, a New Mexico jury determined Meta had misled users about its data practices in a case that resulted from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica data breach.
Whether users can trust Muse will be a deciding factor in whether Meta wins the consumer AI market. Its app is faring well now and remains No. 1 on the App Store.
The Two Reports Compared
| Incident | Detail | Meta’s Response |
|---|---|---|
| Aten’s report | Messages read with Full Disk Access off | Denied, said AI was confused |
| Robb’s report | Address shared during Marketplace sale | Investigating |
The Bottom Line
Meta’s response is essentially that what Aten said happened did not and could not have happened. The company points to multiple layers of permission and a forced restart as proof that a user’s choice is required.
The fact that Singleton is investigating Robb’s complaint is notable. Meta’s denial is firm, but its history — the lawsuits, the FTC violations, the Cambridge Analytica case — hangs over every statement it makes.
The next few weeks will show whether Meta can convince users that Muse is safe. A single report may not sink the app, but a pattern of incidents will. And if Meta keeps responding with denial instead of engagement, the public will have good reason to wonder what it’s hiding.
Source material: “Meta disputes claim that Muse read a user’s private messages without permission,” TechCrunch.
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