🔍 Read the full analysis: Could Meta’s AI Agent Read Your Messages Without Muse? on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Meta’s Muse agent can search information available through a user’s connected accounts, including some messages, according to Meta’s help pages and an executive statement. WIRED and TIME reported that Muse’s instructions tell it to maintain frequently updated pages about people mentioned in the user’s communications; Meta did not dispute the reporting. People who never signed up do not control another user’s access, and the full scope of retention and deletion remains unclear.
Meta’s Muse agent can search messages and other information that its user makes available through connected accounts, while reports say it creates regularly updated profiles of people named in those communications, including non-users. Meta announced Muse’s expansion to Singapore on October 27; the reports raise questions about how people who never signed up can limit the use of their messages by someone else’s agent.
Muse is a personal AI agent that runs on a cloud-based virtual computer and can perform tasks such as answering email, booking tables and shopping. Meta says it launched Muse in the United States on September 8 and describes a separate “Muse Secure VM” for each user. The company announced Japan on October 23 and Singapore on October 27. TIME reported more than 5 million downloads within weeks of launch.
Access depends on connectors and permissions. Meta’s help pages say an email connector lets Muse search email but does not download an entire inbox unless the user instructs it to. Calendar connectors can send updates proactively. Facebook, Instagram and Threads accounts in the same Accounts Center connect automatically, according to Meta. Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said the Instagram connector includes direct messages and that Muse has a Messenger connector; Meta’s help pages do not document the full scope of those connectors. Mac Messages access requires users to grant macOS Full Disk Access and enable the connector.
Separate reports by WIRED and TIME describe Muse instructions that tell the agent to maintain “a page for every person in the user’s life.” TIME reported that files are updated hourly and can cover people named in chats, messages and emails, including relationships, shared interests and disagreements. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings. Its spokesperson said each user controls how much access Muse receives. That statement addresses the account holder’s permissions, not whether people mentioned in their communications can control the same access.
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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Messages Can Expose Non-Users
The issue extends beyond the person who installs Muse. If an account holder connects messages or other services, an agent may process information about people who never agreed to use it. That can include personal details from one-to-one conversations and group exchanges. The exact information available depends on the connectors, permissions and content the account holder has provided; it does not mean Muse can automatically read every message on Meta’s services.
The distinction matters for privacy and consent: a user can choose to grant an agent access to their own account, but conversation partners may have no equivalent setting. Meta’s policy says Muse may store “information about you or others,” and its help material says “forget” works “to the best of its ability.” The extent to which deleting a memory removes underlying or derived information is not fully established in the material cited here.
The business context also deserves scrutiny, without implying a direct exchange between financing and data access. Meta sold $25 billion in stock at $625 a share and $12.5 billion in preferred stock, according to the source report. Nvidia, whose chips Meta plans to deploy for Muse, is investing $3 billion. Those figures describe a financing and technology relationship; they do not establish that the investment changes Muse’s privacy practices.
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How Muse Gets Account Access
Muse works through connectors rather than having automatic access to every service on a user’s device. Meta says users can ask Muse to carry out tasks through its app, on a Mac or in a WhatsApp chat opened specifically for Muse. The source material says the WhatsApp assistant chat is not a reader of a user’s other WhatsApp conversations. Access to Mac Messages is separately permission-based, while some Meta accounts connect automatically when they share an Accounts Center.
Reports about the agent’s internal instructions appeared in October. On October 3, WIRED reported on files security researcher Karan Joshi obtained by asking Muse about them; TIME later reviewed the instructions independently. TIME described hourly updates to files about the user and other people mentioned in communications. These are reports about Muse’s instructions and behavior, not a public, complete technical audit of every user’s account.
Meta’s help pages describe controls for users, including disconnecting connectors, turning off model training, editing a memory file and resetting Muse. The source says model training is on by default. These settings primarily give control to the account holder. People whose messages appear in someone else’s connected accounts may have fewer direct options; the source points to WhatsApp’s Advanced Chat Privacy as one way to restrict how chats can be exported or used in other people’s archives.
“Instagram (incl dm’s), Threads, Facebook (incl marketplace), and Messenger.”
— Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, in a post on X
What the Reports Do Not Resolve
The available material does not establish precisely which parts of Instagram direct messages or Messenger Muse can access in every configuration. Wang’s statement identifies the connectors, while Meta’s published help pages, as described in the source, do not spell out their full scope. Nor is it clear how long profiles about other people are retained, what information is shared through de-identified lessons, or how completely a reset or “forget” request removes derived details.
Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings, but the reported instructions are not a comprehensive independent audit of live systems or all user accounts. The source also does not provide evidence that every Muse user connects message services, or that every person mentioned in a message will receive a profile. The extent of exposure depends on what an individual user connects and what Muse reads.
Watch for Clearer Access Controls
Meta’s Singapore rollout brings Muse to another market, but the source material does not describe a new privacy rule or a change to the agent’s access controls tied to that announcement. Readers seeking to limit exposure should distinguish between controls for Muse users and protections available to their contacts. Users can review connected services, disconnect connectors, edit or reset memory, and switch off model training. People who do not use Muse can ask contacts not to share sensitive messages with connected agents and review privacy options in the messaging services they use.
The next developments to watch are fuller documentation from Meta on what the Instagram and Messenger connectors read, how long profiles and derived memories remain, and what deletion removes. Meta has not announced those details in the source material. Any assessment of the system’s real-world reach will also depend on further independent examination of its behavior and settings.
Key Questions
Can Muse read messages from someone who has never signed up?
It may process messages available to a Muse user through connected accounts. That can include messages involving non-users, but the source does not show that Muse automatically reads all messages or every conversation.
Does Muse automatically read all Instagram and Messenger messages?
Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said Muse has an Instagram connector that includes direct messages and a Messenger connector. Meta’s help pages, according to the source, do not document their full scope. Access should not be described as universal or independent of the user’s account and settings.
What did reports say Muse remembers about other people?
WIRED and TIME reported that Muse instructions tell it to maintain pages about people in a user’s life and update them regularly. TIME said the pages can include relationship details and information from chats, messages and emails. Meta did not dispute TIME’s findings, but the reporting is not a complete audit of every account.
Can a non-user delete a profile Muse made about them?
The source describes controls for the Muse account holder, including editing memory and resetting Muse, but does not identify a direct deletion control for a person mentioned in another user’s messages. Meta’s help material says Muse may still remember information after deletion, so the effect of such requests is not fully clear.
Does Muse read other WhatsApp chats when opened in WhatsApp?
According to the source material, Muse appears in WhatsApp as a chat that the user opens, not as a reader of their other WhatsApp conversations. The source does not provide a technical audit of that separation.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
