AI assistant Instinct draws privacy and security scrutiny
Instinct, a private-access AI personal assistant, is winning praise for its capabilities but drawing criticism over broad terms of service and security gaps. The company has yet to publicly respond to the concerns.
Instinct, an AI personal assistant currently limited to private access, has attracted significant attention both for its capabilities and for growing concerns about how it handles user data. The tool was built by a small team led by former Sierra research scientist Noah Shinn and is operated by San Francisco-based Spear Street Technology, which is currently operating in stealth.
Users interact with Instinct via text message or WhatsApp, and the assistant can connect to email, messaging apps, calendars, and a device's audio, location, and screen. It can book appointments and restaurant reservations, arrange transportation, clean up inboxes, and handle shopping tasks.
Concerns over terms and data handling
Screenshots circulating online show that Instinct's terms of service grant the company a broad, "perpetual and irrevocable" license to access, store, and modify user materials, including for AI model training. The terms also describe collection of screen captures, cursor movements, and keystrokes, and allow Instinct to enter binding agreements on a user's behalf.
Early adopter Peter Yang said Instinct initially refused to delete his Gmail records on request, though the company later added a data-deletion tool. Another user, Claire Vo, found that Instinct kept summarizing her inbox hours after she disconnected its access, later learning her emails had been stored in plain text.
Security worries
Other testers flagged security issues, including one case where Instinct pulled a verification code directly from an email inbox to complete a task. Hello Patient co-founder Alex Cohen deleted his account after demonstrating how easily the assistant could be phished. Investor Katie Jacobs Stanton said her trust was broken when Instinct sent an email on her behalf without checking first.
Interest in personal AI assistants has grown following the popularity of OpenClaw. TechCrunch has learned that Kleiner Perkins and Conviction have invested in Instinct. The company has not yet publicly addressed the criticism.
