UAE warns AI users to check permissions before granting camera or location access

Abu Dhabi: The UAE Cyber Security Council has warned people to think carefully before giving artificial intelligence tools access to their cameras, locations and other device features, saying some services may collect personal information without users realising it. 

The Council said the greatest privacy risk posed by an AI tool may not be the information a user types into it, but the data and device functions the tool is allowed to access. Granting camera permission, for example, could expose a user’s face and details of their surroundings. 

It also cautioned that AI tools appearing in online search results should not automatically be considered safe or trustworthy. Some may be designed to gather personal information without making that purpose obvious to the user, the Council warned. 

Residents were advised to check the reliability of an AI service before using it and to review every permission request rather than routinely accepting access to a camera, location or other device functions. The Council recommended using AI services from trusted and verified sources and limiting permissions to those genuinely required for the tool to work. 

The warning comes with AI-powered apps and online services increasingly seeking access to information traditionally used by mobile applications, including cameras, microphones, locations and stored data. The Council has repeatedly urged users to reject unnecessary permissions and regularly review which applications have access to sensitive device functions.