Did Muse really read someone's messages?
Here is what happened, as far as anyone outside Meta and the user involved can tell. A claim circulated that Muse had read a user's private messages without permission. On September 30, 2026, TechCrunch reported that Meta is disputing that claim.
Meta's answer, given by VP Andy Stone, is specific: the Mac Messages integration is opt in, and it needs two permissions switched on before Muse can read anything in Messages. In other words, Meta says Muse cannot wander into your messages on its own. A user has to open two doors first.
Who is right? From the outside, nobody can prove it either way today. There is one person's account of what happened and Meta's flat statement that the integration cannot work that way. What you can do is check your own doors, and that is what the rest of this page is for.
What data does Muse collect?
An agent that books, buys and organizes for you needs context, so Muse works with what you give it: the conversations you have with it, and the apps and accounts you choose to connect. The word to hold on to is choose. Connections are granted app by app, and each grant is a permission you can review and remove.
That design cuts both ways. It means Muse is only as nosy as the access you hand it. It also means the safety of your setup is mostly in your hands: connect little, review often, and disconnect anything you no longer use. There is no version of a useful personal agent that knows nothing about you, so the real question is always who controls the taps. On Muse, the taps are permissions, and they sit in your settings.
Does Muse use my data for ads?
No. Meta says Muse data is not used for advertising. Your conversations and activity in Muse are not fed into the ad system that runs on Facebook and Instagram.
That is a clear promise, and it is the one part of the privacy story nobody is disputing. Keep it separate in your mind from the training question below, because the two are often confused. Not used for ads does not mean not used at all.
Does Muse train on my conversations?
By default, it can. Muse data is used to train future models unless you turn that off. This is the most important setting on this page, and because it starts on, most users are sharing without ever having made a conscious decision about it.
Turning it off does not delete your account and does not break Muse. It simply tells Meta not to use your data to improve its future models. Your chats stay yours to use. They just stop being training material. If you do one thing after reading this page, make it this switch.
How do I turn off data sharing?
It takes under a minute:
- Open the Muse app and go to Settings.
- Open Data controls.
- Find the data sharing setting labelled help improve our data model and turn it off.
Do this on the account you actually use, and glance at the screen again after big app updates, because settings screens move around. While you are in Data controls, read every other switch on that screen. None of them should be a surprise to you.
What permissions should I check before connecting apps?
Before you connect any app, ask what the connection lets Muse do. Reading your calendar to plan a day is one thing. Reading your messages is another. The Messages case shows the pattern Meta describes: sensitive integrations are opt in and need permissions switched on first, in that case two of them.
Four habits keep you in control:
- Connect one app at a time, and only when a task genuinely needs it.
- Read the permission screen before you tap allow. If it asks for more than the task needs, stop and think.
- Review your connected apps in Settings from time to time, and disconnect the ones you no longer use. Permissions are managed where your connected apps are listed, and removing an app ends its access.
- Be most careful with messages, email and photos. Those are the apps that hold your private life.
What is the confidential mode Meta has promised?
Meta has said a stronger option is coming: a confidential mode where even Meta cannot access your Muse data. It is promised for later in 2026, and it is not available yet.
When it lands, it will change the trust question more than anything else on this page, because it removes the need to take Meta's word for how your data is handled. Until then, the tools you actually have are the permissions and the data sharing switch described above, so use both.
So is Muse safe? The honest verdict
What is known: Muse data is not used for advertising. Training use is on unless you switch it off. Meta describes sensitive app integrations as opt in, gated by permissions you control.
What is disputed: whether Muse read a user's private messages without permission. The user says it happened. Meta says the Messages integration cannot work that way, because it needs two permissions switched on first.
What a careful user should do today: turn off the data sharing setting, review every connected app and remove the ones you do not need, and hold off handing Muse anything truly sensitive until confidential mode arrives. Muse is not a free for all with your data, but it is not hands off by default either. The controls exist. Most people simply never open the screen where they live.
Get started
Set Muse up the careful way. Get in with a free invite code, then turn off data sharing and connect only the apps you need. Outside the launch countries, join the waitlist and get your code on launch day.
Get a code Join the waitlistFrequently asked questions
- Did Muse really read someone's messages?
- It is disputed. On September 30, 2026, TechCrunch reported that Meta is disputing a claim that Muse read a user's private messages without permission. Meta's position, given by VP Andy Stone, is that the Mac Messages integration is opt in and needs two permissions switched on before Muse can read anything.
- What data does Muse collect?
- Muse works with what you give it: your conversations, and the apps and accounts you choose to connect. Connections are granted app by app, and you can review them and remove them in Settings.
- Does Muse use my data for ads?
- No. Meta says Muse data is not used for advertising.
- Does Muse train on my conversations?
- It can, by default. Muse data is used to train future models unless you turn off the data sharing setting. The setting is in the Muse app under Settings, then Data controls.
- How do I turn off data sharing?
- Open the Muse app, go to Settings, then Data controls, and turn off the data sharing setting labelled help improve our data model. Do it on the account you actually use, and check the screen again after big app updates.
- What permissions should I check before connecting apps?
- Read the permission screen for every app before you allow it, connect only what a task actually needs, and be most careful with messages, email and photos. Review your connected apps in Settings from time to time and disconnect anything you no longer use.
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