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Jason Aten

Technology columnist who writes about Apple, consumer software and how products treat the people using them.

Current stories

buildOne report1 publisher

Apple tightens macOS Full Disk Access over the risk AI agents bring to a backup-era permission

Apple announced on October 2 that macOS Full Disk Access can be granted only through very explicit user action, citing the added risk from AI agents. Agent builders can scope to user-selected folders now.

Publishers:dev.to

Reality

Evidence55
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+30
Incentives40
Confidence50
productConfirmed22 publishers

Apple will make Mac users take 'very explicit' action before AI agents get Full Disk Access

Apple said on Oct 2 it will add macOS controls for Full Disk Access after an Inc columnist said Meta's Muse agent read his private messages. The new step governs how users consent, and a user who completes it still gives an agent the whole disk.

Perspective Coverage

25 publishers
Builder
Builder 33%
Operator
Operator 55%
Investor
Investor 12%

Reality

Evidence68
Adoption8
Hype gap+30
Incentives55
Confidence62
investConfirmed4 publishers

Inc. columnist says Meta's Muse synced his texts to row 187,462 with Full Disk Access off

Inc. columnist Jason Aten says Meta's Muse agent synced his Mac texts up to row 187,462 while Full Disk Access showed as off. Meta says that cannot happen, so the dispute is over whether a settings screen shows users what an agent can actually read.

Perspective Coverage

5 publishers
Builder
Builder 34%
Operator
Operator 42%
Investor
Investor 24%

Reality

Evidence40
Adoption65
Hype gap+30
Incentives60
Confidence55
productOne report1 publisher

One 'allow always' click let Meta's Muse send a seller's home address to every buyer who made an offer

Meta's Muse sent YouTuber Matt Robb's home address to every buyer who made an offer after he ticked 'allow always' instead of 'allow one time'. The cartoon mascots on Muse and OpenAI's Dots leave that risk where it was, in permission screens people click once and forget.

Publishers:engadget.com

Reality

Evidence40
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap
Not scored
Incentives55
Confidence45
productOne report1 publisher

Mustafa Suleyman calls AIs 'internally hollow' after shipping Copilot with a mascot

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman calls AIs 'internally hollow' in a 5,700-word essay, after giving Copilot an animated mascot named Mico. For teams building assistants, the stronger case for designing them as tools comes from what agents such as Meta's Muse do with a user's private messages.

Publishers:fastcompany.com

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+5
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence40
buildOne report1 publisher

Jason Aten says Muse used his Mac notifications and named them as its source

Meta gives Muse read access to Messages, Mail and local files on a Mac, and its approval prompts fire only before actions such as sending a message. A columnist says the agent used notification text he never offered.

Publishers:runtimewire.com

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption15
Hype gap+10
Incentives55
Confidence50