🔍 Read the full analysis: A Practical Look At Meta’s AI Agent And Your Message Privacy on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Meta’s Muse personal AI agent can access connected services, including some messages, when its user grants or already has access through linked accounts. Reports say its instructions direct it to maintain profiles of people mentioned in messages and emails, including people who have never used Muse; Meta did not dispute the findings and says users control access. The scope of data retention, deletion and protections for non-users remains unclear.
Meta announced that its Muse personal AI agent would be available in Singapore on October 27, as reporting on the agent’s access to connected messages and its files about people mentioned in them raised questions for users and non-users alike. WIRED and TIME reported that Muse’s instructions direct it to maintain profiles of people in a user’s life; Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings and said each user decides how much access Muse gets.
Muse is a cloud-based assistant that can carry out tasks such as answering email, booking tables and shopping. Meta says each user receives a private virtual computer, called a Muse Secure VM, that other users’ agents cannot access. Users can interact with Muse through its app, on a Mac or in a dedicated WhatsApp chat, Meta says. Its presence in WhatsApp does not mean it reads a user’s other WhatsApp chats.
Muse’s capabilities depend on connectors to other services. Meta’s help information says email access lets Muse search messages but does not download an entire inbox unless the user instructs it to. Calendar connectors can send updates to Muse. Facebook, Instagram and Threads may connect automatically when accounts share an Accounts Center. Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang said Muse’s connectors include Instagram direct messages and Messenger, though the scope of those connections is not fully detailed in Meta’s help pages.
Access to Apple’s Mac Messages requires users to grant macOS Full Disk Access and enable the connector, according to Meta. Users can also create custom connectors; Meta warns that it does not review them. The company’s privacy policy says connected services may share information proactively and lists messages, connector data and information about other people among the information Muse may collect.
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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Profiles Can Include Non-Users
The privacy issue extends beyond what a Muse user knowingly puts into an AI assistant. If Muse can search a user’s connected messages, it may process information about friends, relatives, colleagues and other contacts who did not choose to use the product. Their messages can be part of another person’s archive, and reports say Muse may use them to build ongoing profiles.
That creates a gap between control and impact: Muse users control their own settings, but the people described in their conversations generally do not have an account or equivalent controls. The distinction matters in group chats and personal correspondence, where one participant’s decision to connect an inbox or social account could expose information involving others to an AI agent.
The commercial context has also drawn attention. The source reports that 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. Those figures show the scale of the financial and infrastructure commitments, but do not establish that the investment was made specifically to expand Muse or that it changes the agent’s privacy practices.
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How Muse’s Access Works
Meta launched Muse in the United States on September 8, according to the source, followed by Japan on October 23 and Singapore on October 27. The company describes it as “the world’s first personal AI agent built for everyone.” That is Meta’s marketing claim, not an independently established distinction. TIME reported that Muse had more than 5 million downloads within weeks; the source does not specify a precise measurement window or comparison baseline.
Reports about Muse’s internal instructions preceded the Singapore announcement. WIRED reported on October 3 that security researcher Karan Joshi obtained files by asking Muse questions. The source says TIME reviewed the instructions separately three days later. According to those reports, Muse is directed to create “a page for every person in the user’s life,” with information about relationships and interactions, and to refresh files hourly. The reported instructions include people mentioned in chats, messages and emails, even if those people never signed up for Muse.
Meta’s help pages describe controls for users, including disconnecting connectors, switching off model training, editing a memory file and resetting Muse. The source says model training is on by default. Those controls apply to the Muse user’s own agent; they do not amount to a direct privacy dashboard for people whose information appears in someone else’s conversations.
“They’re trying to know you like a friend, which is honestly pretty creepy.”
— Karan Joshi, security researcher, speaking to WIRED
Retention and Deletion Remain Unclear
The available information does not establish exactly what information is retained, for how long, or how profiles are used after a user disconnects a service or deletes a memory. Meta’s help wording says Muse forgets information “to the best of its ability” and may still remember information it learned from deleted material. The source also says TIME reported that Muse’s instructions discourage it from pointing out that original messages may remain visible, but the precise handling of those messages is not fully explained here.
Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings, according to the source, but the company’s public explanation does not confirm every detail of the reported profiling process. It is also not clear whether or how a person who never uses Muse can request removal of information held in another user’s agent, or what safeguards govern de-identified lessons reportedly shared across the system. The source provides no independent audit of these practices.
Watch for Policy and Control Details
Meta’s Singapore rollout gives users in another market access to Muse, while the company’s existing help pages and privacy policy remain the main sources cited for how connectors work. Readers should look for any further explanation from Meta about message access, profile updates, retention and deletion, including whether the company offers protections for people who are mentioned by Muse users but do not have accounts.
For now, Muse users can review connected services, disconnect accounts they do not want the agent to access, check model-training settings and edit or reset its memory. Non-users have fewer direct options. The source points to WhatsApp’s Advanced Chat Privacy as one way to limit what sits in other people’s archives, but does not establish that it removes information already available to a connected service or stored by an agent.
Key Questions
Can Muse read every message in a user’s accounts?
Not necessarily. Access depends on the connectors enabled and the permissions granted. Meta says email search does not download an entire inbox unless instructed. Some Meta accounts may connect automatically through an Accounts Center, and Wang said Instagram direct messages and Messenger have connectors, but their full scope is not clearly documented in the help pages cited.
Does opening Muse in WhatsApp give it access to other WhatsApp chats?
The source says Muse is a separate chat that users open, not a reader of their other WhatsApp conversations. It does not describe the exact data handling for every WhatsApp feature or setting.
Can people who never signed up for Muse be included?
Reports by WIRED and TIME say Muse’s instructions direct it to maintain files about people mentioned in a user’s communications. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings, but people who are profiled may not have a Muse account or direct controls over those files.
Does deleting a memory remove everything Muse learned?
That is not guaranteed by the wording cited. Meta’s help information says Muse forgets information “to the best of its ability” and may still remember what it learned from deleted material. The source does not give a full account of retention periods or deletion outcomes.
What can a Muse user do to limit access?
Users can review and disconnect connectors, change model-training settings, edit Muse’s memory file or reset the agent, according to the source. Those steps control the user’s Muse; they do not necessarily give other people mentioned in messages a way to remove their information.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
