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TL;DR
Meta’s Muse personal AI agent can access information through connectors, including certain messages when users enable or already have connected services. WIRED and TIME reported that its instructions tell it to maintain and regularly update pages about people mentioned in a user’s communications; Meta did not dispute the findings and says users control Muse’s access. Users can disconnect services, change training and memory settings, or reset Muse, but people who never signed up have limited direct control over what other users’ agents have seen.
Meta announced that its Muse personal AI agent is coming to Singapore on October 27, expanding a service that can search information from connected accounts and messages. The announcement comes as WIRED and TIME reported that Muse’s instructions tell it to keep and regularly update pages about people mentioned in users’ communications, including people who never signed up; Meta did not dispute those findings and says each user controls what the agent can access.
Muse works through connectors that give it access to other services. Meta’s help information says connecting an email account lets Muse search messages, but does not download the whole inbox unless the user asks. Calendar connectors can send updates to Muse. Meta says Facebook, Instagram and Threads accounts in the same Accounts Center connect automatically. Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang has said the Instagram connector includes direct messages and that Messenger is also supported, although Meta’s help pages do not document the precise scope of those connectors.
Access to Mac Messages requires a user to grant macOS Full Disk Access and turn on the connector, according to Meta. Users can also create custom connectors, but Meta warns it does not review them. Muse can be opened as a chat in WhatsApp, Meta says; that does not mean it automatically reads a user’s other WhatsApp chats. The service’s privacy policy also describes some connector data as shared proactively and lists messages, connector data and information about other people among the information it may collect.
In an October 3 report, WIRED described instructions obtained by security researcher Karan Joshi that direct Muse to create a page for each person in the user’s life. TIME reported three days later that Muse updates records hourly, including information about people named in chats, messages and emails. The reports describe notes covering relationships and interactions. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings. Its help material says users can disconnect connectors, turn off model training, edit Muse’s memory file or reset the agent. It also cautions that asking Muse to forget something may not remove everything it learned from it.
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 Message Access Affects Others
The privacy issue extends beyond the person who installs Muse. When a user connects an account or gives the agent access to communications, other people’s messages and details may become available to that user’s agent, even if those people never agreed to use Muse. That distinction matters in family, workplace and group conversations, where one participant’s settings can affect what an AI system can process about others.
The practical controls described by Meta are mainly available to the Muse account holder. A person who is mentioned in someone else’s communications does not appear to have the same direct ability to inspect or change that person’s agent settings. This creates a gap between who can turn access on and whose information may be included. The reports do not establish that every message is read or that every named person receives a complete profile, but they raise questions about the limits of consent in shared communications.
The expansion also has business significance. The source reports Meta sold $25 billion in stock at $625 a share and $12.5 billion in preferred stock, with Nvidia investing $3 billion while Meta plans to deploy Nvidia chips for Muse. That financial and infrastructure context does not establish a link between the investment and any particular privacy practice. It does show that Muse is part of a large commercial and technical effort, making the rules for access and data retention relevant beyond a single product launch.
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Muse’s Rollout and Connectors
Meta launched Muse in the United States on September 8, 2026, and described it as a personal AI agent that can act for users, including handling tasks such as email and bookings. Japan followed on October 23, and Singapore was announced on October 27 as its first market outside North America, according to the source material. Muse runs through a cloud-based virtual computer Meta calls a Muse Secure VM; Meta says one user’s agent cannot access another user’s VM.
The connector model is central to understanding what Muse can reach. Some connections require explicit setup, such as Mac Messages, while Meta says certain accounts linked through the same Accounts Center connect automatically. The service’s privacy policy and help pages describe different pieces of this system, and the company’s executive statements provide additional detail about Instagram DMs and Messenger. The source reports more than 5 million downloads within weeks, citing TIME, but does not provide the measurement method or a comparison baseline.
Reporting about Muse’s internal instructions emerged in early October. WIRED reported on files Joshi obtained by asking Muse questions in the chat; TIME separately reviewed instructions and described hourly updates. These are media reports about the agent’s instructions, not a public audit of every user’s data or proof that each instruction operates identically in every account. Meta’s stated position is that users decide how much access their own Muse receives.
“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 Clarified
The full scope of data access is not documented consistently across Meta’s public help pages and executive statements. In particular, the source says Meta’s pages do not specify exactly what the Instagram DM and Messenger connectors read or how their access works in different circumstances. The policy’s description of proactive sharing also leaves open when data is sent to Muse without a direct task request.
The reported hourly updates and person-by-person pages come from WIRED and TIME’s examination of instructions. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings, but the source does not establish how often the instructions produce a complete record, how long such records persist, or whether they are available in every market and account. It is also unclear what happens to information about a non-user after the Muse user disconnects an account or resets the agent.
The source material’s quotation from Meta’s help page about forgetting data is incomplete. It says Muse may retain information learned from deleted material, but does not provide the full wording or a detailed account of what a deletion request removes. Meta’s claim that each user controls their agent does not answer how people discussed in that user’s messages can request access, correction or removal.
What Users Can Change Now
Muse users can review connected services and disconnect connectors they do not want the agent to use. They can also turn off model training, edit the memory file, or reset Muse, according to the source’s account of Meta’s controls. These actions may limit future access or change stored memory, but Meta’s warning means users should not assume that “forget” guarantees complete deletion of information already learned.
People who do not use Muse have fewer direct controls over another person’s agent. The source points to WhatsApp Advanced Chat Privacy as one way to limit what can be exported or used outside a chat, but does not describe it as a comprehensive remedy for all connected apps or existing records. Readers concerned about a particular conversation can ask the other participant to review their connectors and memory settings.
Meta’s Singapore expansion puts the service in a new market, while the questions raised by the reports remain unresolved in the supplied material. Further clarification from Meta about connector scope, retention, deletion and protections for non-users would help users understand how the system works. Until then, the confirmed options are the account-level settings Meta describes; the extent of control for people whose information appears in someone else’s communications remains unclear.
Key Questions
Can Muse read every message in a connected email account?
Meta’s help information says connecting email lets Muse search it, but does not download the whole inbox unless the user asks. The source does not spell out every condition for searches or retention.
Does Muse automatically read all WhatsApp chats?
No such claim is established in the source. Meta says users can open Muse as a chat in WhatsApp; that is different from Muse automatically reading other WhatsApp conversations.
What did WIRED and TIME report about people who do not use Muse?
They reported instructions for Muse to maintain pages about people in a user’s life and to update information about people mentioned in communications. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings, but the reports do not prove that every non-user has a complete profile.
What settings can Muse users change?
The source identifies options to disconnect connectors, turn off model training, edit the memory file or reset Muse. Meta’s help information cautions that Muse may still remember some information after a request to forget or delete it.
Can someone who does not use Muse remove information from another person’s agent?
The source does not identify a direct non-user control for another person’s Muse. A non-user may be able to limit some sharing in particular services, but the extent of those protections and removal options is unclear.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
