Artificial intelligence is now part of almost everything we use — from the apps on your phone to voice assistants and even touchscreen menus at restaurants. What once felt futuristic is quickly becoming everyday reality. But as AI gets more involved in our lives, it’s also starting to ask for more access to our private information, and that should raise concerns.
Many AI-powered tools today request broad permissions, sometimes more than they truly need to function. These requests often include access to your email, contacts, calendar, messages, or even files and photos stored on your device. While the goal may be to help you save time, the trade-off could be your privacy.
This situation is similar to how people once questioned why simple mobile apps like flashlight or calculator apps — needed access to personal data such as location or contact lists. The reason? That information could be sold or used for profit. Now, some AI tools are taking the same route, asking for access to highly personal data to improve their systems or provide services.
One example is a new web browser powered by AI. It allows users to search, summarize emails, and manage calendars. But in exchange, it asks for a wide range of permissions like sending emails on your behalf, viewing your saved contacts, reading your calendar events, and sometimes even seeing employee directories at workplaces. While companies claim this data is stored locally and not misused, giving such broad access still carries serious risks.
Other AI apps promise to take notes during calls or schedule appointments. But to do this, they often request live access to your phone conversations, calendar, contacts, and browsing history. Some even go as far as reading photos on your device that haven’t been uploaded yet. That’s a lot of personal information for one assistant to manage.
Experts warn that these apps are capable of acting independently on your behalf, which means you must trust them not just to store your data safely but also to use it responsibly. The issue is, AI can make mistakes and when that happens, real humans at these companies might look through your private information to figure out what went wrong.
So before granting an AI app permission to access your digital life, ask yourself: is the convenience really worth it? Giving these tools full access is like handing over a digital copy of your entire personal history, and once it’s done, there’s no taking it back.
Always read permission requests carefully. If an app asks for more than it needs, it’s okay to say no.
