The ability of AI systems to act as agents, to perform tasks on our behalf, is the single biggest development in technology. This is the ability to introduce Siri AI to Apple devices, and I tend to trust the protection of privacy and security that Apple has put in place.
But Siri AI isn’t the only agent you can give full access to your Apple devices, with Meta’s Muse app being the latest example – and one tech writer’s experience highlights why you really don’t want to do this…
If I were to compile a list of companies that I trust at least to give full access to my devices and all the data stored on them, Meta would definitely be first. The company has a poor privacy record, and its entire business model is based on absorbing as much of our personal information as possible.
When Meta launched Muse’s personal AI agent for iPhone and Mac, there was not the slightest possibility that I would allow it anywhere near my device. However, it seems that my caution was far from universal, as the app quickly jumped on the App Store.
Technology writer Jason Ashton is one of those who will try it, sensibly using a test machine rather than the Mac itself. However, this allowed the app to access his iMessages, even though he told it not to do so.
Yesterday, I had a conversation with my primary technology podcast host, Stephen Robles, about the new iPhones. Later, I received an encouraging message from Muse suggesting that the conversation we are having would make a good column and offering to do research together for me to write about.
Not only did I not ask it to do such a thing, I never allowed it to read my messages. In fact, I distinctly remember choosing not to let it have access to my messages, calendar, and other personal information.
When he questioned it, the app lied to him about how it achieved this, claiming that it only accessed messages visible in his notifications.
Except that’s not true. I did a little digging. Muse No Sync your messages from the local Messages database and upload that data as a data source. On my device, it is enabled and synced to row 187,462 of my Messages database. I’m not sure how many messages are equal, but definitely more than what Muse tells me about what it does. Which, honestly, is the point. I never allowed it to do that.
Other users have reported similar major privacy issues, some of which Meta has A bug.
9to5Mac’s Take on Muse
No.
picture: Serge S/Unsplash
