Apple is tightening one of macOS’s most powerful privacy permissions as AI agents can continuously access information and take action on a user’s computer.
Additional controls are coming to Full Disk Access, a permission that can give an app access to files, email, messages, browsing history, and other information that macOS would normally protect individually.
Full Disk Access was originally designed for software such as backup utilities that genuinely need to reach nearly everything stored on a Mac.
Some developers are now using the permission in ways that can expose far more information than users realize, a problem that becomes more consequential as AI software gains greater autonomy.
AI agents change what Full Disk Access can expose
macOS normally separates access to sensitive information behind individual privacy permissions. An app might need approval to use the camera, microphone, contacts, or other protected data rather than receiving blanket access to everything at once.
Full Disk Access is deliberately much broader. Once granted, an app can reach areas of the Mac that would otherwise be protected, which makes sense when a backup utility needs to create a complete copy of a computer. Giving an AI agent the same access is a very different proposition.
An agent operating continuously in the background could encounter private documents, conversations, email, and browsing data while carrying out tasks on the user’s behalf.
Messages and email also contain information belonging to other people, so granting an agent access to them doesn’t affect only the person who approved the permission.
That becomes more consequential as agents can work independently for longer periods rather than waiting for a user to initiate every action.
The upcoming controls are intended to make granting such broad access a more deliberate decision, rather than something that can be approved like a routine permission request.
Exactly what will change remains unclear. Full Disk Access could become harder to grant, gain more granular controls, or work differently for certain types of software, but no specifics have been announced.
There is also no timeline yet or confirmation of whether the changes will arrive during the macOS Golden Gate release cycle.
Any new restrictions will still need to accommodate software that legitimately requires broad access. Backup apps and disk utilities often need to inspect or copy data across an entire drive, which is why Full Disk Access exists.
