“We give developers powerful APIs to build incredible capabilities into their apps for Apple products, backed by a set of controls designed to protect users’ private data. Full Disk Access largely sidesteps these controls in order to allow backup apps to function properly on the Mac. Some developers are using Full Disk Access in ways that could put users at risk, exposing everything on their systems—including files, mail, messages, and even browsing history—without users’ full knowledge and understanding. For communication apps, this can also compromise the privacy of the people users are communicating with.
“Going forward, we will introduce additional controls to ensure that users who genuinely wish to grant an app this extraordinary level of access can only do so with very explicit user action. Addressing this is critical. As AI agents become increasingly capable and autonomous, the risks associated with this level of access will grow substantially. We are committed to ensuring users clearly understand these risks before granting such access, so they can make informed decisions about their own data and privacy.”
The note makes it quite clear that Apple is doing this in reaction to the real and present danger that unconstrained AI places on security systems everywhere.
Accident, or design?
After all, for every denied instance in which Meta’s Muse may, or may not, have surveyed private messages, there are now many incidents in which some “rogue” AI has “escaped” to do some kind of harm.
Except it’s quite easy to think these incidents are not really escapes, isn’t it?
This story originally appeared on Computerworld
