Instinct’s powerful AI assistant is raising privacy and security concerns - TechCrunch

Instinct, an AI personal assistant still in private testing, is generating buzz for its capabilities—described by testers as feeling "like magic"—while also drawing scrutiny over privacy and security concerns.
The San Francisco-based product was created by a small team led by former Sierra research scientist Noah Shinn and is operated by Spear Street Technology, according to its terms and California business filings, and is currently operating in stealth per PitchBook.
The agent connects to users' applications and devices—including email, messaging apps, calendar, audio, location, and screen—and can be reached via text or WhatsApp to handle tasks like booking appointments, scheduling rides, cleaning inboxes, shopping, and finding cheap flights.
Critics have circulated screenshots of the Terms of Service, which grant Instinct a broad "perpetual and irrevocable" license to access, use, host, store, reproduce, distribute, and modify user materials, including for AI model training, and to collect screen captures, cursor movements, and keyboard inputs.
The terms also permit Instinct to enter binding "agreements, commitments, or transactions" on users' behalf, prompting figures like Mike Khristo and Jeremy Banon to warn publicly about the level of personal data being handed over.
Early adopter Peter Yang noted that Instinct would not delete his Gmail records, and observers are questioning whether the trade-offs of granting an AI this degree of access and autonomy are worthwhile.