Apple is introducing new limits on full disk access for the Mac, responding to the heightened risks posed by increasingly capable AI agents. In an update issued on Friday, the company said it is rolling out fresh 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.”
The move follows concerns that developers have been able to exploit the permission in ways many users may not fully understand. Apple warned that some developers are using full disk access to expose “everything on their systems, including files, mail, messages, and even browsing history, without users’ full knowledge and understanding.” The company added that as AI agents “become increasingly capable and autonomous, the risks associated with this level of access will grow substantially.”
What Full Disk Access Means on macOS
Full disk access is a permission on macOS that grants an application access to a user’s entire system. Apple notes that the feature “largely sidesteps” the privacy controls normally offered to users, a design choice intended to allow backup applications to function correctly on the Mac. With the new controls, the company aims to make granting this sweeping level of access a far more deliberate action on the part of the user.
The Context Behind the Change
The announcement arrived weeks after a report that Meta’s Muse AI appeared to know the contents of a user’s messages, despite not having been given explicit permission to access them on an iPhone or Mac. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone disputed the account, stating that access to Messages is “entirely opt-in.” Stone said users must “enable both Full Disk Access and the Messages connector for Muse to be able to read your Messages content.”
Apple has not specified when it plans to roll out the update for full disk access. The company did not provide further detail on the timing of the new controls.
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