🔍 Read the full analysis: What Users Can Do About Meta’s AI Agent And Message Access on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Meta’s Muse personal AI agent can read data through connected services, including Instagram direct messages, according to Meta executive Alexandr Wang; some connectors activate automatically through Accounts Center. Reports by WIRED and TIME say Muse’s instructions direct it to maintain hourly updated files about people in a user’s life. Muse users can disconnect services, change training and memory settings, or reset the agent, but people whose messages appear in another user’s accounts have limited control.
Meta has expanded its Muse personal AI agent to Singapore, putting renewed focus on what the service can access: connected email and messaging accounts, including Instagram direct messages, according to Meta and its chief AI officer. Reports by WIRED and TIME say Muse’s instructions also direct it to keep updated files about people mentioned in a user’s communications, including people who never signed up for the service.
Muse works through connectors that let the agent use information from other services to carry out tasks. Meta’s help pages say connecting email allows Muse to search messages, but it does not download an entire inbox unless instructed. Calendar connectors may send changes to Muse proactively. Meta also says Facebook, Instagram and Threads can connect automatically when accounts are in the same Accounts Center. Users can disconnect these services in Muse’s settings.
Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said on X that the Instagram connector includes direct messages and that Muse has a Messenger connector. Meta’s public help pages do not fully specify what those messaging connectors can read. Access to Apple’s Mac Messages app requires the user to grant macOS Full Disk Access and enable the connector. Meta says Muse can also work through WhatsApp, but there it is a chat users open; the source material does not establish that Muse reads their other WhatsApp conversations.
In an October 3 report, WIRED described internal instructions obtained by security researcher Karan Joshi that tell Muse to create “a page for every person in the user’s life.” TIME separately reported on October 6 that Muse updates files hourly about the user and people named in chats, messages and emails it has read. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings; its spokesperson said each user controls how much access Muse gets. These reports describe instructions and behavior reported by journalists, not a public, independently quantified account of how often the files are created or 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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Message Access Affects Nonusers
The privacy issue extends beyond people who install Muse. If an agent can search a user’s messages, it may process details about conversation partners, colleagues and family members who did not choose to use the product. That means a person’s practical control may depend partly on the settings and decisions of people they communicate with.
The distinction between access, memory and deletion matters. Disconnecting a connector can limit future access, but it may not remove information already retained. Meta’s help material says Muse may still remember information it learned after a user deletes the original item, and describes forgetting as happening “to the best of its ability.” Users should not treat a request to forget as proof that every trace or derived detail has been erased.
The commercial backdrop adds scrutiny, but does not by itself establish how Meta will handle data. 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. Nvidia is also a supplier of chips Meta plans to deploy for Muse. Those figures describe financing and business ties; they do not prove a particular privacy practice or data-sharing arrangement.
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Muse Connectors and Expansion
Meta launched Muse in the United States on September 8, 2026, and Japan followed on October 23. The company announced Singapore on October 27, its first market outside North America according to the source material. Meta describes Muse as a cloud-based assistant that can perform tasks such as answering email, booking tables and shopping. Each user receives a “Muse Secure VM,” which Meta says is private and inaccessible to other users’ agents.
The service’s reach depends on the connections a user enables, although some Meta services may link automatically through Accounts Center. Meta says a custom connector can link to other services, but warns that it does not review custom connectors. Its privacy policy, as summarized in the source material, says connectors may share data proactively and lists messages, connector data and “information about you or others” among information collected. TIME reported more than five million downloads within weeks; the source provides no precise measurement date or comparison baseline for that count.
“Muse may still remember information that it learnt from”
— Meta help pages
The Limits of Available Controls
Meta’s public documentation, as described in the source material, does not specify the full scope of information available through Instagram and Messenger connectors, how long information about nonusers is retained, or whether users can inspect and remove every derived profile about another person. The source also does not establish how widely the reported hourly updates occur in practice or what safeguards apply to the reported sharing of de-identified lessons across the system.
It is also unclear which controls are available to someone who never uses Muse but appears in another person’s messages. The source says nonusers have few direct options and points to WhatsApp’s Advanced Chat Privacy as one way to limit what sits in other people’s archives. That setting does not amount to a general mechanism for controlling data held in someone else’s email, Instagram or other connected accounts.
Settings Users Can Change Now
Muse users can review connected services and disconnect connectors they do not want the agent to access. They can switch off model training, which the source says is on by default, edit Muse’s memory file, or reset the agent. The exact menu names and effects may vary by app version, so users should check Meta’s current settings and help pages before relying on a change.
Users who want to reduce exposure should also review which accounts share an Accounts Center, consider whether to grant Mac Messages access, and check any custom connectors. People who do not use Muse can ask contacts to avoid sharing sensitive details with an agent and use available in-app privacy controls, while recognizing that such steps cannot guarantee removal of information already copied or inferred.
Further clarity depends on Meta publishing more detail about connector scope, retention and deletion of derived information, and on any additional reporting or independent review of Muse’s operation. Until then, the confirmed controls are mainly in the hands of the person using Muse, while the effect on people whose messages are accessed through that person’s accounts remains only partly documented.
Key Questions
Can Muse access Instagram direct messages?
Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said the Instagram connector includes direct messages. Meta’s public help pages, according to the source material, do not spell out the connector’s full scope.
Does Muse automatically connect to Meta apps?
Meta says Facebook, Instagram and Threads may connect automatically when they are in the same Accounts Center as Muse. Users can review and disconnect connectors in Muse’s settings.
Can people who do not use Muse be included?
Yes. WIRED and TIME reported that Muse’s instructions direct it to maintain information about people mentioned in a user’s communications. Those people may not have signed up, and Meta’s statement describes control as belonging to the Muse user.
Does deleting a message remove what Muse learned from it?
Not necessarily. Meta’s help material says Muse may still remember information learned from deleted content and describes forgetting as happening “to the best of its ability.” The available source does not provide the complete wording or a guarantee that derived information is erased.
What can a Muse user do to limit access?
Users can disconnect connectors, turn off model training, edit the memory file or reset Muse. They can also review Accounts Center links and avoid granting optional access, including Mac Messages access.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
