Apple Tightens macOS Full Disk Access Over AI Agent Risks
Apple is adding new restrictions to "Full Disk Access," one of the most powerful permissions an app can hold on macOS. The company says desktop AI agents have changed the risk picture. A setting that was once mostly about backups now opens a much bigger door.
The announcement came in a blog post aimed at developers. It follows a week of uncomfortable reporting about what AI apps on the Mac can see.
What Full Disk Access actually unlocks
Full Disk Access was built for a practical reason: backup software needs to reach everything on a machine to do its job. According to Apple, an app with this permission can read files, mail, messages and even browsing history.