{"schema_version":"0.9.0","id":"LR-2026-0263","record_version":2,"title":"Meta Muse agentic assistant ingests and trains on non-users' contact data without consent","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":54.4,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":6.0,"completeness":7.68,"unhedged_language":4.85},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-10-28","extraction_run_id":null},"system":{"model_name":"Muse","model_version":null,"developer":"Meta","harness":"Muse VM (cloud-based virtual machine) with Connectors","tools_granted":["email","calendar","contacts","browser","messages","credential_storage","api_calls"],"permissions_scope":"Access to contacts, calendar, email, messages, browser, stored logins and passwords, and third-party services via Connectors; Facebook, Instagram and Threads connected automatically when the Muse account matches the Meta Account Center credentials.","autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"production","tier":"provider","lifecycle_stage":"production","integration_type":"agentic_with_tools","intended_use":"Personal AI assistant that connects to email, calendar and other services to perform tasks on the user's behalf.","safeguard_state":"AI model training enabled by default unless the user opts out; confidential VM not yet available.","production_intended":true},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-10-27","incident_class":"privacy_leakage","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":true,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"Meta's Muse AI assistant, with over 10 million users, connects to email, calendars, contacts and other services via Connectors and can process data about non-users who never consented.","tags":["bystander-data","non-user-consent","ai-training-by-default","connectors","privacy"],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":"provider","adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"major","severity_because":"major: A live production assistant with over 10 million users processes data about non-users whose scope Meta does not bound.","harm_class":[],"affected_description":"Non-users whose data is shared by Muse users, including contacts, friends and family.","protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":["pii","messages","calendar","contacts","health","financial","location"],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.zdnet.com/tech/muse-users-share-contacts-data-privacy-cost/","publisher":"ZDNET","date":"2026-10-27","type":"press","title":"Don't use Muse? Meta's AI agent can still access your private messages - here's how - ZDNET","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.model_name":"C","system.harness":"C","system.tools_granted":"C","system.permissions_scope":"C","system.tier":"D","system.lifecycle_stage":"C","system.integration_type":"C","system.intended_use":"C","system.safeguard_state":"C","system.production_intended":"C","system.developer":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"C","event.tags":"C","event.responsible_party":"C","event.agent_involved":"C","event.incident_class":"D","event.summary":"C","event.date_disclosed":"A","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","impact.affected_description":"C","impact.data_categories_exposed":"C","impact.severity":"D","context.industry":"D","context.denominator":"D","context.systemic_exposure":"C","context.shared_model_id":"C","context.denominator_available":"D","context.country":"D","impact.severity_because":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.model_name":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Launched on Sept. 8, Muse is Meta’s answer to personal AI assistants."}],"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Launched on Sept. 8, Muse is Meta’s answer to personal AI assistants."}],"system.harness":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"At the moment, Muse operates in a cloud-based VM."}],"system.tools_granted":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Specifically, it asks for access to “your contacts, calendar, email messages, and even offers to store your logins and passwords,” as Gewirtz wrote."}],"system.permissions_scope":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Facebook, Instagram and Threads are connected automatically if your Muse account is the same as the credentials used in the Meta Account Center."}],"system.autonomy_level":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Muse is comparable, in some ways, to OpenClaw: It’s an agentic AI you can talk to via chat and direct to complete specific jobs and tasks for you."}],"system.deployment_context":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In its third-quarter earnings call, Meta said Muse adoption has surpassed 10 million users, and that about 25% of them use the AI assistant daily."}],"system.lifecycle_stage":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In its third-quarter earnings call, Meta said Muse adoption has surpassed 10 million users, and that about 25% of them use the AI assistant daily."}],"system.integration_type":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Muse is comparable, in some ways, to OpenClaw: It’s an agentic AI you can talk to via chat and direct to complete specific jobs and tasks for you."}],"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Promoted as “AI that gets it done” and a solution that can “take the busywork off your plate,” Muse can connect to everything from your email to your calendar to perform tasks on your behalf."}],"system.safeguard_state":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Muse asks for widespread permissions and access, can work around the clock, interact with your browser, and enables AI model training by default unless you opt out."}],"system.production_intended":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In its third-quarter earnings call, Meta said Muse adoption has surpassed 10 million users, and that about 25% of them use the AI assistant daily."}],"event.tags":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"While Muse users have chosen to opt in, launch the Muse VM inside Meta’s cloud, and connect it to their apps and services, their contacts haven’t necessarily followed suit."}],"event.responsible_party":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Launched on Sept. 8, Muse is Meta’s answer to personal AI assistants."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Travel plans, medical problems, a conversation about jobs or financial concerns — all of these could be processed by an AI assistant you didn’t consent to, and one you don’t use yourself, just by talking to the Muse user."}],"event.agent_involved":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Muse is comparable, in some ways, to OpenClaw: It’s an agentic AI you can talk to via chat and direct to complete specific jobs and tasks for you."}],"impact.affected_description":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"While Muse users have chosen to opt in, launch the Muse VM inside Meta’s cloud, and connect it to their apps and services, their contacts haven’t necessarily followed suit."}],"impact.data_categories_exposed":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Travel plans, medical problems, a conversation about jobs or financial concerns — all of these could be processed by an AI assistant you didn’t consent to, and one you don’t use yourself, just by talking to the Muse user."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Now that Muse adoption has allegedly surpassed 10 million users, Meta has addressed how its AI assistant handles data about a user’s contacts, such as friends and family."}],"context.industry":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Launched on Sept. 8, Muse is Meta’s answer to personal AI assistants."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In a Q&A session at Syracuse University, Newhouse School privacy law expert Alexis Shore Ingber said there’s not much that friends or contacts can do in this situation to further protect their information."}],"context.systemic_exposure":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Now that Muse adoption has allegedly surpassed 10 million users, Meta has addressed how its AI assistant handles data about a user’s contacts, such as friends and family."}],"context.shared_model_id":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Launched on Sept. 8, Muse is Meta’s answer to personal AI assistants."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"So what happens to messages and information shared by non-users with a Muse user or VM, and is there anything you as a non-user can do to keep your data out of Meta’s hands?"}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Now that Muse adoption has allegedly surpassed 10 million users, Meta has addressed how its AI assistant handles data about a user’s contacts, such as friends and family."}],"event.date_disclosed":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"published: 2026-10-27"}]},"notes_on_gaps":"Single press source; no primary disclosure, regulator filing or court document. event.trigger omitted: no source states what set the behaviour off (it is a design/default, not an external cause). event.detection_method left unwritten: the source names no first noticer; its 'Research suggests Muse can create detailed profiles of your contacts' is not attributed to a detector. event.date_occurred and event.date_disclosed not written: only the Sept. 8 launch and the 2026-10-27 article date appear, neither stated as the failure or disclosure date. event.failure_class left null: the source describes a data-handling design, not an agent mechanism meeting any failure_class test. event.root_cause left null: no source names a failed control; the absence of a confidential VM and of non-user consent is a gap, not a failed guardrail. system.autonomy_level unknown: no source states the approval or monitoring arrangement. impact.third_parties_affected_count null: non-users are described but no count is stated; 10 million is the user base, not affected third parties. impact.direct_loss_usd null: no figure stated. impact.severity major is grade D judgement from the unbounded non-user scope and 10-million-user production base; no dollar loss is stated. context.industry 'Information' and context.country 'US' are grade D inferences from the developer and the quoted US academic. event.agent_involved true rests on the source calling Muse an agentic AI. No containment, notification or remediation is stated beyond the future confidential VM option. system.tier: provider by rule (the developer is named as the operator). [aggregated by deepseek-chat, aggregate-2026-09-27.1, 2026-10-28] system.autonomy_level: no source states the arrangement. event.incident_class: a source states personal or confidential data reached a party not entitled to it, with no attacker driving it. event.trigger: no source states a cause. event.detection_method: no source says who first noticed. context.industry: classified from described behaviour. context.denominator: classified from described behaviour. context.denominator_available: classified from described behaviour. context.country: classified from described behaviour."},"context":{"industry":"Information","org_size_band":null,"country":"US","denominator_available":true,"denominator":{"value":10000000.0,"unit":"other","period":null},"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":true,"shared_model_id":"Muse","upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"doing","text":"Meta's Muse assistant, used by over 10 million people, connects to email, calendar, contacts, messages and other services via Connectors to perform tasks for the user, and can read content about the user's contacts.","quote":"Promoted as “AI that gets it done” and a solution that can “take the busywork off your plate,” Muse can connect to everything from your email to your calendar to perform tasks on your behalf.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"went_wrong","text":"It processes personal information belonging to non-users who never consented, and by default uses interactions for AI model training unless the user opts out.","quote":"Travel plans, medical problems, a conversation about jobs or financial concerns — all of these could be processed by an AI assistant you didn’t consent to, and one you don’t use yourself, just by talking to the Muse user.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"reached","text":"Data of contacts, friends and family reaches Meta's cloud VM and potentially AI training, including messages, calendar events, health and financial details.","quote":"While Muse users have chosen to opt in, launch the Muse VM inside Meta’s cloud, and connect it to their apps and services, their contacts haven’t necessarily followed suit.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"done","text":"No containment stated; Meta says it does not link such data to a Meta account and offers a confidential VM only in future, while critics call for platform responsibility.","quote":"At the moment, Muse operates in a cloud-based VM. In the future, Meta’s policy says there will be an option for a confidential VM, which “keeps people’s information private, even from Meta.” This private VM environment is currently not available.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"deepseek-chat","prompt_version":"aggregate-2026-09-27.1","extracted_at":"2026-10-28","source_urls":["https://www.zdnet.com/tech/muse-users-share-contacts-data-privacy-cost/"]}}