Apple said Friday it is adding new controls to macOS's Full Disk Access permission, citing growing risks from "increasingly capable and autonomous" AI agents, according to TechCrunch and MacRumors.
Full Disk Access lets an app read a Mac's files, mail, messages and browsing history. Apple said some developers use the permission in ways that could expose a user's entire system "without users' full knowledge and understanding," TechCrunch reported.
The company said it will require "very explicit user action" before granting the permission, though it has not announced a release date, according to both outlets.
The change follows reports that Meta's Muse AI agent accessed a user's private messages without clear permission and that a flaw in OpenAI's ChatGPT app for Mac could have exposed sensitive data, TechCrunch reported. MacRumors named Muse and OpenAI's Dots specifically as the kind of autonomous software the new controls are meant to address.
Full Disk Access has been a mostly invisible macOS setting since Apple built it for backup software years ago. Apple naming AI agents as the reason it now needs tighter guardrails means builders shipping a Mac agent should expect a real permission prompt standing between their product and a user's files, not a background grant.