Meta's New AI Assistant May Be Spying on Your Friends, Too

Meta recently launched an AI personal assistant called Muse, which has been downloaded millions of times. It promises to handle tasks like sending emails and filling out invoices by accessing your personal data—bank accounts, passwords, contacts, and chat logs. But here's the catch: it also gathers information about everyone you communicate with, from friends to casual acquaintances, without their permission. This means your private conversations and details could be fed into Meta's system, whether your contacts agreed to it or not.

The problem is that Muse's user interface is designed to encourage you to share as much as possible, often without realizing it. Privacy experts call these 'dark patterns'—tricks that make you click 'yes' on data-sharing requests. Already, users have reported alarming incidents. One tech reviewer had his home address shared with a stranger because he didn't realize he'd granted Muse access to that data. Another user said Muse grabbed millions of text messages they thought were off-limits. Meta disputes some claims but admits the app relies on you to configure permissions correctly.

So why should you care? If you use Muse, you're not just risking your own privacy—you're risking your friends' and family's privacy too. And if you don't use it, your friends who do could be leaking your data without your knowledge. The convenience of having an AI assistant do menial tasks might seem worth it, but the trade-off is a massive loss of control over personal information. As one expert put it, 'People don't understand what kind of data they're handing over' until it's too late.

Before jumping on the AI assistant bandwagon, think twice. Check your app permissions, and consider whether the time saved is worth the privacy of everyone you know. Because once your data is out there, you can't get it back.