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TL;DR
Meta’s Muse personal AI agent can use connected accounts, including some Meta services, to access messages and other information. Meta says users control access, but reports describe Muse maintaining frequently updated profiles of people mentioned in users’ communications. Users can disconnect connectors or reset Muse; people who do not use the agent have fewer direct controls.
Meta’s Muse personal AI agent reached Singapore on October 27, renewing questions about the messages and personal information it can access through connected accounts. Meta says each user controls Muse’s access, but reports by WIRED and TIME describe the agent as keeping frequently updated profiles of people mentioned in a user’s messages—including people who never signed up for Muse.
Muse works through connectors that link it to services and let it carry out tasks such as searching email or working with a calendar. Meta’s help pages say connecting email lets Muse search it, but does not download the entire inbox unless the user asks. Calendar connectors may send updates to Muse proactively. Meta also says Facebook, Instagram and Threads connect automatically when they are in the same Accounts Center as Muse.
Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said Muse has connectors for Instagram direct messages and Messenger, as well as Facebook and Threads. Meta’s help pages, according to the source material, do not fully document what those connectors read. Access to Apple’s Mac Messages requires a user to grant macOS Full Disk Access and enable the connector. Meta also warns that it does not review custom connectors built by Muse.
Reports about Muse’s internal instructions have raised a separate concern: information about people other than its user. WIRED and TIME reported that instructions direct Muse to create a page for people in the user’s life and refresh information about the user and people named in communications. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings. Its spokesperson said each user decides how much access Muse receives. That describes the account holder’s controls, but does not give other people mentioned in their communications a direct way to manage that account’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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How Access Affects Non-Users
The privacy issue extends beyond whether a Muse user connects an account. When an agent can search messages and emails, information about friends, relatives, colleagues and other contacts may be available to it as part of the user’s data. Those people may not know their communications are being processed by an AI agent and generally cannot change the other person’s connector settings.
That imbalance makes the distinction between account control and personal control important. A Muse user can manage what their own assistant accesses. Someone mentioned in their chats cannot directly inspect or erase the other user’s agent memory. The source material also describes Meta’s “Forget” feature as best-effort rather than a guaranteed deletion, so users should not treat it as proof that all related information has been erased.
The expansion also puts the question in a commercial context. The source reports Meta sold $25 billion in stock at $625 per share and $12.5 billion in preferred stock, with Nvidia investing $3 billion. It says Nvidia supplies chips Meta will deploy for Muse. Those figures do not establish that the financing is tied to any particular privacy practice, but they show the scale of investment surrounding the service.
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Muse’s Rollout and Data Links
Meta launched Muse in the United States on September 8, 2026, describing it as a personal AI agent that can act for users from a computer in the cloud. Japan followed on October 23, and Singapore was announced on October 27. Meta says each user has a Muse Secure VM, a private virtual computer that other users’ agents cannot access. That claim addresses separation between agents; it does not, by itself, explain what information a user’s own agent can retain.
The agent can be used in its app, on a Mac or in WhatsApp, according to Meta. The source material distinguishes Muse’s WhatsApp chat from a tool that reads all of a user’s other WhatsApp chats: Muse is a chat the user opens. It also points to WhatsApp’s Advanced Chat Privacy as one way non-users may limit what is available in other people’s archives, though it does not give those non-users control over other services or accounts.
For a Muse user, the practical controls described in the source include disconnecting connectors, turning off model training, editing the memory file and resetting Muse. Model training is described as on by default. The source also cautions that deleting or asking Muse to forget information may not remove everything it has already learned.
“They’re trying to know you like a friend, which is honestly pretty creepy.”
— Security researcher Karan Joshi, quoted by WIRED
What Meta Has Not Specified
The available material does not establish exactly which messages are processed, how long each category of information is retained, or how completely a reset removes learned details. Meta’s help pages reportedly explain some connectors but not the full scope of Instagram DMs and Messenger access. The descriptions of profile-building come from reporting on Muse instructions; they should not be treated as a complete account of how the feature behaves in every user’s account.
It is also unclear what practical recourse people who are not Muse users have when their information appears in another person’s agent memory. Meta’s statement emphasizes that the account holder chooses access, while the source does not identify a direct control for the people described in those accounts. A reported figure of more than 5 million downloads within weeks is attributed to TIME, but the source provides no precise measurement window or comparison baseline.
Controls to Check Before Using Muse
People using Muse can review connected services and disconnect any they do not want the agent to access. They can also check the model-training setting, memory file and reset options, while keeping in mind that the source describes “Forget” as best-effort. Before enabling a connector, users should read its current permissions and consider whether messages involving other people are included.
People who do not use Muse have fewer direct options. The source points to WhatsApp Advanced Chat Privacy as a way to reduce what may be available in other people’s archives, but does not describe an equivalent cross-platform setting. The next developments to watch are clearer documentation from Meta on connector scope, retention and deletion, and whether it provides controls for people whose information is processed through another user’s agent.
Key Questions
Can Muse read a user’s entire email inbox?
Meta’s help information, as described in the source, says an email connector lets Muse search email but does not download the whole inbox unless the user asks it to.
Does Muse automatically connect to Instagram?
The source says Facebook, Instagram and Threads connect automatically when they share an Accounts Center with Muse. Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang also said the Instagram connector includes direct messages, though the help pages reportedly do not detail the full scope.
Can people who do not use Muse stop it from processing their messages?
The source identifies no direct setting that lets a non-user control another person’s Muse account. It says people may be able to reduce what is available in some archives, such as by using WhatsApp Advanced Chat Privacy.
Does asking Muse to forget information guarantee deletion?
No. Meta’s help wording, as quoted in the source, says Muse forgets information “to the best of its ability” and may still remember information after something is deleted. The source does not specify exactly what remains or for how long.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
