Apple Locks Down Full Disk Access, Naming AI Agents as the Reason
Apple just changed a macOS permission because of AI agents, and said so out loud. In a new developer post, Apple announced extra controls on Full Disk Access, the setting that lets an app read every file, mail, message and browsing history on a Mac. Going forward, users who "genuinely wish to grant an app this extraordinary level of access" will only be able to do it through "very explicit user action."
Full Disk Access was built so backup software could work. Then desktop agents found it. An agent that can read everything is far more useful, so agent apps started asking for it. Apple's line is blunt: "Some developers are using Full Disk Access in ways that could put users at risk, exposing everything on their systems without users' full knowledge and understanding." And the forward-looking part: "As AI agents become increasingly capable and autonomous, the risks associated with this level of access will grow substantially."
The trigger was concrete. Days earlier, Inc. columnist Jason Aten reported that Meta's Muse agent on Mac knew the content of private messages it had not been given permission to read, a claim Meta disputes. Muse optionally asks users to turn on Full Disk Access. A Wired report on a flaw in ChatGPT's Mac app added to the pressure.
This is the first time a platform owner has rewritten an OS permission specifically around agents. That matters more than any single app's privacy policy. The agent-authority problem we keep covering, what an agent is allowed to touch and who signed off, is now being solved at the operating system layer, and Apple holds the pen. Expect desktop agent makers to move toward scoped folder grants and per-task permissions, because the "just give me the whole disk" onboarding screen is about to get a lot scarier for users.
Link: techcrunch.com (Apple Full Disk Access, Oct 2)
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Full Disk Access was built so backup software could work. Then desktop agents found it. An agent that can read everything is far more useful, so agent apps started asking for it. Apple's line is blunt: "Some developers are using Full Disk Access in ways that could put users at risk, exposing everything on their systems without users' full knowledge and understanding." And the forward-looking part: "As AI agents become increasingly capable and autonomous, the risks associated with this level of access will grow substantially."
The trigger was concrete. Days earlier, Inc. columnist Jason Aten reported that Meta's Muse agent on Mac knew the content of private messages it had not been given permission to read, a claim Meta disputes. Muse optionally asks users to turn on Full Disk Access. A Wired report on a flaw in ChatGPT's Mac app added to the pressure.
This is the first time a platform owner has rewritten an OS permission specifically around agents. That matters more than any single app's privacy policy. The agent-authority problem we keep covering, what an agent is allowed to touch and who signed off, is now being solved at the operating system layer, and Apple holds the pen. Expect desktop agent makers to move toward scoped folder grants and per-task permissions, because the "just give me the whole disk" onboarding screen is about to get a lot scarier for users.
Link: techcrunch.com (Apple Full Disk Access, Oct 2)
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