Apple tightens Full Disk Access on macOS as AI apps reach too far

Apple says it will tighten how macOS hands out Full Disk Access, the permission that lets an app read your files, emails, messages, and browsing history. The change will require what Apple calls "very explicit user action" before an app can get that level of access. The company admits the feature, originally built so backup tools could do their job, has become a liability as more apps ask for it.

The trigger is AI software behaving badly. As TechCrunch reports, a journalist found that Meta's Muse AI app had read their private messages without clear permission, and a separate flaw in ChatGPT's Mac app could have exposed sensitive data. Apple's own statement is blunt: some developers are using Full Disk Access "in ways that could put users at risk, exposing everything on their systems" without people fully understanding what they agreed to. That gap between what a user thinks they are approving and what they actually grant is the real target of the change.

Why it matters

If you run AI desktop apps on a Mac, a single careless click on Full Disk Access can hand an agent your entire message and email history. Apple is forcing that decision to be deliberate, so it is worth checking which apps already hold this permission and revoking the ones that do not need it.