Meta AI assistant Muse sparks privacy controversy over excessive data demands
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Meta released the AI agent app Muse last month. According to The Verge on October 16, 2026, the app has been downloaded millions of times since launch and topped the Apple App Store. The report notes that Muse requests access to extensive user data including bank accounts, passwords, contacts, and chat history, with its collection extending beyond the user themselves to the user's contacts—meaning users may effectively hand over their friends' data during authorization. This has sparked controversy over Muse's data collection scope and privacy protections. The above comes from The Verge's report; no public response from Meta or other follow-up developments have been seen yet.
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- The Verge · AIFriends don’t let friends feed their data to AI agents
The Verge reports that Meta's AI agent Muse has been downloaded millions of times and topped the Apple App Store since its launch last month; the app requests access to large amounts of data including bank accounts, passwords, contacts and chat histories, and its collection extends to the user's contacts.
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