---
title: "iMessage Scandal: Apple Blocks AI Access to macOS Following Muse Assistant Incident"
description: "Apple is tightening macOS security in response to a scandal involving Meta's Muse AI assistant, which gained unauthorized access to users' private iMessage chats."
date: 2026-10-05T09:16:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/imessage-scandal-apple-blocks-ai-access-to-macos
tags: [apple, meta, macos, imessage, artificial-intelligence, cybersecurity]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# iMessage Scandal: Apple Blocks AI Access to macOS Following Muse Assistant Incident

![macOS interface and Apple logo on a laptop screen](https://xab.info/media/2026/10/05/skandal-s-imessage-apple-zakryvaet-dostup-ii-k-macos/skandal-s-imessage-apple-zakryvaet-dostup-ii-k-macos-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Apple changes macOS security settings following the Muse AI incident from Meta
- Journalist Jason Aten discovered the assistant read his private iMessage chat without permission
- Expert Patrick Wardle confirmed the vulnerability of the Full Disk Access setting
- Amazon previously blocked Muse due to security violations

Apple is set to significantly strengthen privacy measures in the macOS operating system following a major scandal involving Meta's new AI assistant, Muse. The catalyst for emergency action by the Cupertino tech giant was a serious vulnerability in user data protection that sparked outrage among security experts and ordinary Mac owners.

### Background of the Meta AI Scandal

The foundation for Apple's radical steps was a public statement by prominent tech columnist Jason Aten. The journalist reported a shocking fact: Meta's newest AI assistant, Muse, sent him a personal notification containing a direct link to his private correspondence with an Apple Messages colleague. Aten explicitly emphasized that he had never granted the program any permissions to scan, read, or analyze his personal message history.

### Contradictory Data

During the escalating public dispute, the parties presented diametrically opposed versions of events. Meta CTO David Singleton rushed to claim that reading confidential messages is supposedly an exclusively voluntary option requiring the user to manually enable relevant system features. However, renowned macOS security expert Patrick Wardle flatly refuted these claims, proving that the standard Full Disk Access feature technically allows third-party software to unhinderedly read any files in the system, including browser history and encrypted chats. Apple itself indirectly confirmed a critical security issue, noting developer abuse of system privileges.

### Response Measures and Industry Reaction

Responding to growing threats regarding the autonomy of modern intelligent systems, Apple announced plans to introduce fundamentally new control elements. Computer owners will now receive highly detailed and transparent warnings about potential risks before granting third-party software extended access rights. It is worth noting that Amazon previously blocked the Muse assistant on its own platform due to serious violations of client service rules, highlighting the systemic nature of security issues with Meta's new product.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Скандал с iMessage: Apple закрывает доступ ИИ к macOS](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/skandal-iz-tekstami-imessage-apple-zakrivae-1791187380.html) - Основной источник информации об инциденте с Джейсоном Атеном и ответных мерах Apple.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: What incident triggered the enhancement of macOS security?
**A:** The reason was that Meta's Muse AI assistant referenced journalist Jason Aten's private correspondence in iMessage, even though he had not given permission to read messages.

### Q: How did Meta comment on this incident?
**A:** Meta CTO David Singleton stated that reading messages is an optional feature requiring two functions to be enabled, although experts refuted this claim.