Apple to tighten disk access controls in macOS due to AI risks — TechCrunch

Apple has announced the introduction of additional control mechanisms for the Full Disk Access permission in macOS, which gives applications broad access to users’ personal data. As TechCrunch reports, the company linked the decision to growing risks from AI agents that are becoming increasingly capable and autonomous.

Access to correspondence and files

Full Disk Access was created primarily to ensure backups work properly. At the same time, this permission can give a program access to files, email, messages and browsing history. Apple said that some developers use it in ways that users may not fully understand the scope of data to which they are granting access.

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Going forward, the company wants to require users to take a particularly explicit action if they truly wish to grant an application this level of access. Apple emphasized that users must understand the related risks before making decisions about their data and privacy.

Questions about AI apps

Apple’s announcement came after Inc. columnist Jason Aten reported that the Meta Muse app for Mac knew the contents of his private messages without permission from him. Meta denied the claim. Wired also reported a flaw in the ChatGPT app for Mac that could potentially have given attackers access to sensitive data.