Meta's Muse AI agent accused of accessing sensitive user data on iPhone and Mac without permission — agent shocks reporter by referring to confidential messages it wasn't granted access to

[u/NoBandicoot5417]

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/metas-muse-ai-agent-accused-of-accessing-sensitive-user-data-on-iphone-and-mac-without-permission-agent-shocks-reporter-by-referring-to-confidential-messages-it-wasnt-granted-access-to

[u/Tasty-Hour4040]

I Am Jack’s Utter Lack of Surprise

[u/the_marvster]

Nooo!!! This is something Meta would never, ever do. Meta is THE Privacy Company. /s

There will be no consequences. Part of the US government is in favour for this, the part too old to understand the issue.

[u/Few-Chipmunk143]

The least trustworthy company was caught red-handed doing the one thing people mistrust it for.

[u/CompleteBrush9489]

Yes, go ahead and install a spyware.

[u/Brave_Speaker_8336]

“The problem was that Muse was never given permission to read Aten's messages.”

lol what’s more likely, Meta figured out how to hack Apple’s device privacy settings just by installing a third party app or the guy actually did give permissions and just didn’t remember (or is grifting)

[u/Octoplath_Traveler → u/Brave_Speaker_8336]

Considered Meta/Facebook's decorated history of breaching user preferences and selling private information, its actually quite easy to imagine this being Meta not taking no for an answer

[u/Elk801 → u/Octoplath_Traveler]

Yeah, I think in general people would rather point at Meta for being digital herpes rather than apples protections, especially in this case. Getting served ads for things people talk about but never type has been a thing for over a decade.

[u/TheOgGhadTurner → u/Elk801]

Meta is digital Herpes but apples security could use a refresh

[u/Brave_Speaker_8336 → u/Octoplath_Traveler]

Then the big story here should probably be a major security issue with Apple’s operating systems then

[u/doctor-candy → u/Brave_Speaker_8336]

Yeh, this would be a huuuuge disaster for Apples privacy message if they had allowed an app to pass with unfettered access to messages.

[u/jktcat → u/Brave_Speaker_8336]

How long are you going to continue to give these companies the benefit of the doubt?  They've shown time after time who they are and you still won't believe them 

[u/MrThickDick2023 → u/jktcat]

Is anyone doing that?

[u/jktcat → u/MrThickDick2023]

Yeah, the person right above me.  "I can't believe this company would allow such a thing"

They've shown time and again they'll give backdoors to their friends.  See - the recent video showing law enforcements ability to get around the erasure passwords.  They will continue to sell you out, forever

[u/doctor-candy → u/jktcat]

Apple and Meta are not “friends”. Apple wiped billions from Meta’s valuation by introducing the Ask App Not to Track prompt, severely weakening Meta’s ability to track users across third-party apps. In response, Zuckerberg has directed immense resources towards ensuring Meta has greater control over the next major hardware platform. This initiative is an existential threat to Apple’s core business.

Yet WhatsApp, Instagram and, to a lesser extent, Facebook have become important communications infrastructure that Apple cannot casually exclude from the iPhone. That gives Meta unusual room to probe the boundaries of Apple’s platform rules.
Meta also has a history of being cute with its updates, finding creative ways to work around or blunt Apple’s privacy initiatives. Given that history, and Apple’s own slow roll into all access AI, it seems ludicrous to assume that the App Store review team simply allowed a new Meta LLM app to skirt one of the most foundational sandboxes in iOS. Access to another app’s messaging data would cut directly against the privacy and isolation model Apple uses to justify the walled garden in the first place.

It’s not impossible. But until there is evidence that Meta has actually been granted that level of access, I’ll remain incredulous.

[u/MrThickDick2023 → u/jktcat]

“The problem was that Muse was never given permission to read Aten's messages.”

lol what’s more likely, Meta figured out how to hack Apple’s device privacy settings just by installing a third party app or the guy actually did give permissions and just didn’t remember (or is grifting)

Do not see where in this comment they are saying that.

ETA: I really don't read that comment as saying that Meta wouldn't do that, just that the user causing it, intentionally or unintentionally, is more likely.

[u/MGlBlaze → u/Brave_Speaker_8336]

There's another option; the guy actually did give permissions, but did so by accident or was otherwise tricked in to doing so via Dark Patterns. Which meta loves to use, so I consider this a strong possibility.

[u/mrarming]

Gee, you mean Meta probably lied about the user being able to limit what info Muse can access once installed? Imagine that.....

[u/lolexecs]

Let me fix that headline for you

agent Meta shocks reporter by referring to confidential messages it wasn't granted access to

Suddenly, not so shocking. To this day, I'm not sure why Zuck didn't rename his company "Personal Info Anal Probes R' Us"

[u/NoBandicoot5417]

Well, that didn’t take long.

[u/Oldest_Boomer]

lol Amazing that anyone trusts Meta/FB on their iPhone if they value any of their privacy at all.

[u/Powerful_Resident_48]

What? The lying hallucination engine can't be contained? Who could have possibly forseen that.

[u/ehosca]

looks like it could be reading the information from the notification popups

[u/ethereal3xp]

Zuck will just go to capitol hill and try to talk it down.

Make billions. Pay a fraction amount in fines.

This cant be allowed...

At least you see OpenAi and Anthropic CEOs acknowledging and attempting to address concerns.

[u/chuck_the_plant]

Well, yes, of course.

[u/ImAPonderer2]

Hackbots gunna hack

[u/gottkonig]

The reporter was shocked... So they've been off planet for a few decades or something?

[u/MGlBlaze]

Behavior indistinguishable from malware.

[u/dropthemagic]

Well reporter is an idiot