🔍 Read the full analysis: Ways To Limit What Meta’s AI Agent Sees In Your Messages on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Meta’s Muse personal AI agent can access data through connected services, including Meta accounts and, with permission, email and Mac Messages. Reports say its instructions tell it to keep and update profiles of people mentioned in a user’s communications; Meta did not dispute those findings. Users can disconnect services, limit training, edit or reset memory, while people who never signed up have fewer ways to limit what another person’s agent can access.
Meta’s Muse, a personal AI agent that can search information in accounts its user connects, may also build and update profiles of people mentioned in those communications, according to investigations by WIRED and TIME. The reports describe privacy implications for people who never signed up for Muse, while Meta says each user controls what the agent can access.
Muse gets access through connectors linking it to services. Meta’s help information says email access lets Muse search an inbox, but it does not download the entire inbox unless the user asks. Calendar connectors can send updates to Muse. Meta accounts in the same Accounts Center as Muse can connect automatically, according to the company’s help pages. Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said the Instagram connector includes direct messages and that Muse has a Messenger connector; Meta’s help pages do not set out the full scope of those messaging connections.
Access to Mac Messages requires the user to grant macOS Full Disk Access and enable the connector, Meta says. Custom connectors can also link Muse to other services; Meta warns that it does not review those connectors. The company describes Muse as a private virtual computer for each user, and says that in WhatsApp, Muse is a chat a person opens—not a tool that reads that person’s other WhatsApp chats.
WIRED reported on instructions directing Muse to create a page for people in its user’s life. TIME separately reported that Muse updates files hourly using information about people mentioned in chats, messages and emails, including details about relationships and disagreements. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings. A Meta spokesperson said each user decides how much access Muse gets. That controls the user’s agent; it does not give other people direct control over how their messages are handled by someone else’s agent.
Infographic 01 · What Muse can read
Muse reads what its user can read. That includes you.
Connectors decide what the agent sees. The user switches them on. The people in that user’s chats and inbox are never asked.
Sources a Muse user can open to the agent
The agent reads what its user can read. Everyone who writes to that user is inside.
| Source | How it connects | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Email (Gmail, Outlook) | Opt-in connector. Searches when a task needs it; downloads the whole inbox only if told to. | Meta document |
| Calendar | Opt-in connector. Can push changes to Muse on its own (“proactive”). | Meta document |
| Facebook, Instagram, Threads | Connected automatically if the accounts share an Accounts Center with Muse. | Meta document |
| Instagram DMs, Messenger | Named as Muse-only connectors (“Instagram (incl dm’s) … and Messenger”). What they read is not documented. | executive post |
| Mac Messages (iMessage) | Only with macOS Full Disk Access plus the Messages connector, Meta says. One columnist says it synced anyway. | disputed case |
| A place to chat with Muse, not a connector. Test-build text mentions Muse access to end-to-end encrypted chats. | leaked code | |
| Custom connectors | Muse can build links to other services. Meta does not review them. | Meta document |
What the instructions say
Extracted by researchers; reported by WIRED and TIME reported
- “A page for every person in the user’s life”: family, partners, friends, colleagues, people followed
- Notes on how people met, shared interests, disputes, “tensions and alliances”
- People who never signed up are mapped by other users’ agents
- De-identified “lessons” shared across agents; Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings
What Meta says
Privacy policy, help pages, spokespeople Meta document
- Each user’s VM is isolated; no other user’s agent can reach it
- Conversations and VM data are not shared with Meta’s ad systems
- “Each person stays in control of their Muse and decides how much access it gets”
- Forgetting works “to the best of its ability”; deleted data may still be remembered
Sources: Meta Help Center: Connectors; Muse Privacy Policy; Alexandr Wang on X (8 Sep 2026); TIME (6 Oct 2026); Tom’s Guide on WIRED’s report (6 Oct 2026); TechCrunch (30 Sep 2026); Digit (16 Oct 2026). Status labels: Meta document = stated by Meta; executive post = Meta executive on X, not in help pages; disputed = claim and denial on record; leaked = unreleased code, may never ship.
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When Someone Else Connects Your Messages
The privacy issue extends beyond the person who chose to use Muse. If an agent can read communications available to its user, it may process information about the other people in those conversations too. That can include personal details, shared plans or disagreements, even when those contacts never installed the agent or agreed to its settings.
The practical distinction is between the account holder’s controls and the privacy options available to their contacts. Muse users can manage what they connect and what they ask the agent to remember. A person whose messages appear in a contact’s account generally cannot change that contact’s Muse settings. The source says non-users may be able to reduce what is retained in particular circumstances, but it does not describe a universal way to prevent another person’s agent from processing a message they can access.
This makes the agent’s memory and deletion behavior relevant alongside ordinary account permissions. Meta’s help material says Muse may still remember information learned from data a user deletes, and describes forgetting as happening “to the best of its ability.” A user’s request to forget something should not be treated as confirmation that every related copy or inference has been erased.
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How Muse Connects to Other Apps
Meta launched Muse in the United States on September 8, 2026, then expanded to Japan on October 23 and announced Singapore on October 27, according to the supplied report. Meta describes the product as an assistant that operates on a cloud-based computer and can perform tasks such as handling email or making bookings. TIME reported more than five million downloads within weeks; the source does not specify a comparison baseline or provide independent verification of that figure.
Some connections require an explicit action, while others may be automatic. Meta says Facebook, Instagram and Threads can connect when accounts share an Accounts Center with Muse. Email and Mac Messages access depend on settings or permissions. The distinction matters: the fact that someone uses Muse does not by itself establish that every message in every service is accessible, and the exact scope of some messaging connectors is not detailed in Meta’s help material cited by the source.
The source also reports a stock and investment deal announced this week: Meta sold $25 billion in stock at $625 a share and $12.5 billion in preferred stock, while Nvidia said it would invest $3 billion. Nvidia supplies chips Meta plans to use for Muse. The figures provide business context for the product’s expansion, but do not establish how Meta will use individual messages or change its privacy settings.
“They’re trying to know you like a friend, which is honestly pretty creepy.”
— Security researcher Karan Joshi, quoted by WIRED
The Limits of Muse’s Controls
The exact data scope of Instagram DMs and Messenger connectors remains unclear from the Meta help pages cited in the source. Wang said the Instagram connector includes direct messages and that Messenger is available, but the cited public documentation does not detail precisely what is collected, when it is accessed or how long it is retained.
The reports describe Muse’s internal instructions and memory behavior, but the source does not establish how consistently the agent follows those instructions in ordinary use or what information is ultimately retained in each case. Meta’s statement that it did not dispute TIME’s findings is not the same as a detailed public explanation of the files, retention periods or deletion process. It is also unclear what recourse contacts have when their information is processed through another person’s account.
Check Connections and Memory Settings
Muse users can review connected services, disconnect connectors they do not need, turn off model training, edit the agent’s memory file or reset it, according to the source report. Users should check the settings and current Meta help pages for their own accounts, since available controls may vary by service. Disconnecting an account may limit future access, but the source does not say that it removes information already learned.
People who do not use Muse have fewer direct controls. The report points to WhatsApp’s Advanced Chat Privacy as one way to limit what sits in other people’s archives in some circumstances, but it does not present that feature as a general block against Muse reading every message elsewhere. Meta’s documentation on connector scope, retention and deletion—and any further clarification from the company—will determine how much users and their contacts can verify about what the agent has seen.
Key Questions
Can Muse read every message in a user’s accounts?
Not necessarily. Muse accesses services through connectors. Meta says some connections require permission, while Facebook, Instagram and Threads may connect automatically when they share an Accounts Center with Muse. The full scope of some messaging connectors is not documented in the source.
Does using Muse in WhatsApp let it read other WhatsApp chats?
According to the source, Muse in WhatsApp is a chat the user opens, not a reader of their other WhatsApp conversations. The report separately notes Advanced Chat Privacy as a way to limit what may be kept in other people’s archives.
How can a Muse user limit what the agent sees?
The source lists disconnecting connectors, turning off model training, editing Muse’s memory file and resetting the agent. Users should check their current account settings and Meta’s help information for the controls available to them.
Can someone who never signed up for Muse stop another person’s agent from processing their messages?
The source describes limited options for non-users and no universal control over another person’s Muse settings. A contact may be able to limit what is available in particular apps, but the report does not establish a way to block processing across all services.
Does asking Muse to forget information guarantee deletion?
No. Meta’s help information says Muse forgets “to the best of its ability” and may still remember information learned from deleted material. The source does not provide a guarantee that all related data or inferences are erased.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
