Case in Point: Perplexity’s AI Browser
Take Comet, a new AI-powered web browser by Perplexity. It promises to help users:
- Search the web with AI assistance
- Summarize emails and calendar events
- Automate daily online tasks
Sounds great, right? But there’s a catch.
During testing, TechCrunch discovered that Comet asks for full access to your Google Account, including:
- Managing and sending your emails
- Viewing and editing your calendars
- Downloading your contacts
- Accessing your entire company directory
That’s a lot of access for an app that’s supposed to just help you browse.
Perplexity claims the data is stored locally on your device, but you’re still granting them permission to collect and use it — including to train their AI for others.
