🔍 Read the full analysis: What Message Access Does Meta’s AI Agent Have Without Muse? on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Meta’s Muse personal AI agent can use information available through connectors authorized by its user, and Meta’s privacy policy says it may collect information about other people. Reports describe Muse instructions that create and update profiles of people mentioned in a user’s messages; Meta did not dispute those findings and says users control access. The exact data retained, how non-users can limit it, and the effect of deletion controls are not fully clear.
Meta’s Muse AI agent can access information about people who never signed up when that information appears in accounts or messages its user connects, according to Meta’s product and privacy materials and investigations reported by WIRED and TIME. Meta says each user controls what Muse can access, but that leaves people mentioned in another person’s messages with fewer direct controls over how the agent processes their information. See what to consider before giving an AI agent access.
Meta’s Muse AI is a personal AI agent that operates through a cloud-based virtual computer and can carry out tasks such as handling email or making bookings, according to Meta. The company’s help pages describe connectors for email, calendars and Mac Messages, while Facebook, Instagram and Threads accounts may connect automatically when they share an Accounts Center with Muse. Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang has also said Muse has connectors for Instagram direct messages and Messenger, though the help pages cited in the source do not detail the scope of those connections.
Meta says an email connector lets Muse search email but does not download an entire inbox unless the user instructs it to. Access to Mac Messages requires the user to grant macOS Full Disk Access and enable the connector. Meta’s privacy materials also describe some connectors as sharing information proactively and list messages, connector data and “information about you or others” among the data Muse may collect. The precise timing and scope of access can depend on the connector and task.
WIRED reported on Muse instructions that tell the agent to create a page for each person in its user’s life. TIME later reviewed instructions describing hourly updates to files about the user and people named in messages and emails, including details about relationships and disputes. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings; a spokesperson said each person controls their own Muse and decides how much access it gets. The reports describe what the agent’s instructions say, not independent confirmation of every profile created or how often it is used.
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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Why Other People’s Messages Matter
The issue reaches beyond Muse account holders because conversations contain information about people on both sides. If a user gives an agent access to messages, the agent may process details about contacts who never chose to use the service. That raises practical questions about consent, privacy and control: the account holder can manage connectors, while the people discussed in their messages generally cannot operate those settings themselves.
There are controls for Muse users, including disconnecting connectors, switching off model training, editing a memory file and resetting the agent, according to the source material. Those options do not amount to a direct opt-out for everyone mentioned in someone else’s communications. Meta’s help information also says Muse may remember information learned from deleted material, using the qualification “to the best of its ability” when describing forgetting. That wording does not establish that every trace is removed when a user asks Muse to forget something.
The question also matters as Meta expands Muse to new markets and invests in the infrastructure behind it. The source reports a $25 billion stock sale at $625 a share, a further $12.5 billion in preferred stock, and a $3 billion Nvidia investment. Those figures describe financing and a chip-supply relationship; they do not by themselves establish that the funding changes privacy practices or how much data Muse collects.
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Muse’s Rollout and Data Connections
Meta launched Muse in the United States on September 8, 2026, according to the source, and announced Japan on October 23 and Singapore on October 27. Meta describes it as a personal AI agent, with a private virtual machine for each user. The company says one user’s agent cannot access another user’s virtual machine. That separation between agents does not mean that information about a person cannot enter an agent through a message shared by its user.
How the agent connects depends on the app. Meta’s materials say email and calendar access is set up through connectors, while Facebook, Instagram and Threads can link automatically through a shared Accounts Center. The source says Muse in WhatsApp is a chat the user opens, rather than a feature that reads their other WhatsApp chats. Custom connectors may also be built, but Meta warns that it does not review them. Permissions therefore differ by service, and a user’s choice to connect one app does not establish that Muse can read every account or message.
The reporting about person-by-person pages came from two investigations. WIRED reported on files obtained by security researcher Karan Joshi; TIME reviewed Muse instructions separately three days later, according to the source. The reports describe instructions to keep information about people in a user’s life and refresh it hourly. That is distinct from proof that every user has such a file, that every cited detail is stored in the same way, or that the files are used for a particular decision.
“They’re trying to know you like a friend, which is honestly pretty creepy.”
— Karan Joshi, security researcher, quoted by WIRED
What Access and Deletion Leave Unclear
The available information does not specify exactly which message content is retained for each connector, for how long, or whether the reported people profiles are created for every Muse user. Meta’s statement that users control access does not answer whether a person mentioned in a conversation can inspect or remove information about themselves from another user’s agent. Those non-user controls remain unclear in the material provided.
The source also says Meta’s help pages describe forgetting as working “to the best of its ability” and that Muse may retain information learned from deleted content. The full help-page wording and the technical limits of deletion are not available here. TIME reportedly said Muse’s instructions tell it not to point out that original messages may remain visible, but the source does not provide Meta’s response to that specific claim. The reports should not be read as confirmation that every message is copied or that every profile is accurate.
What Meta’s Controls Need to Clarify
For users, the immediate steps described in the source are to review connected services, disconnect any connector they do not want Muse to use, check model-training settings, and review or reset the agent’s memory. These actions affect the user’s own Muse account; they do not necessarily remove a message from another person’s inbox or erase information an agent may already have inferred.
Further clarity will depend on more detailed disclosures from Meta about connector-by-connector access, retention, deletion and any profiles about people mentioned in communications. Meta’s stated rollout and financing developments provide context for the agent’s expansion, but the source does not set out a specific timetable for new privacy controls or a response to the investigations. Until those details are published, the scope of access and the practical options available to non-users remain open questions.
Key Questions
Can Muse access messages from people who never signed up?
It may process information about non-users when that information appears in messages or accounts a Muse user connects. The source says Meta’s privacy materials include information about “you or others,” but the exact scope depends on the connector and is not fully documented.
Does Muse automatically read every WhatsApp conversation?
No such access is established by the source. It says Muse in WhatsApp is a chat the user opens, rather than a reader of that user’s other WhatsApp chats.
What controls can Muse users change?
The source lists disconnecting connectors, turning off model training, editing the memory file and resetting Muse. It does not establish that these steps remove information already available in other people’s accounts.
Does deleting information mean Muse forgets it completely?
Not necessarily. Meta help material is quoted as saying Muse may still remember information learned from deleted content and may forget information “to the best of its ability.” The precise limits of deletion are unclear.
Has Meta confirmed that every user gets a profile of each contact?
No. WIRED and TIME reportedly found instructions describing pages about people in a user’s life, and Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings. That is not confirmation that every user has such a profile or that every page contains the same information.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
