Apple Tightens Mac ‘Full Disk Access’ in Response to Rising AI Agent Risks
Apple recently announced stringent new restrictions on one of macOS’s most potent permissions — Full Disk Access. This move is in response to the growing privacy threats from the latest generation of AI agents that are always active on desktop computers.
In a developer notice issued on October 2, 2026, Apple expressed concern that increasingly autonomous AI agents, such as Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s Dots, are requesting extensive access to users’ files, private messages, emails, and even browsing history. This is often without users fully comprehending the implications. The company stated, “Some developers are exploiting Full Disk Access in ways that could jeopardize users, exposing everything on their systems — including files, mail, messages, and even browsing history — without users’ complete knowledge and understanding.”
Apple plans to “introduce additional controls” going forward. These will ensure that users wishing to grant an app this level of system access can only do so through a very explicit user action. This announcement comes in the wake of a controversy involving a journalist who alleged that Meta’s Muse AI seemed to reference his private messages without his knowledge — a claim that Meta refuted. A separate report from Wired also uncovered a flaw in the ChatGPT Mac app that could potentially expose sensitive user data to hackers. Apple has yet to confirm a specific release date for these new controls.
This development is significant as it represents the first reported restriction on agent permissions by a major OS vendor. It signals a wider industry reassessment of the extent of access AI software should have to personal data.